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THE  SISTER'S  SON  AND  THE  CONTE 
DEL  GRAAL 


WILLIAM   A.  NITZE 


Preprinted  for  private  circulation  from 
Modern  Philology.  Vol.  IX,  No.  3,  January  1912 


Modern  Philology 


Vol.  IX  January ^  igi2  No.  3 


THE  SISTER'S  SON  AND  THE  CONTE  DEL  GRAAL 

In  my  article  on  the  "Fisher  King"^  I  drew  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  ancient  mysteries  speak  rituahstically  of  the  tribal  god  as 
iraTifjp^  and  suggested  that  a  similar  concept  underlay  the  Grail 
story.  I  propose  now  to  consider  this  question  more  fully,  and  inci- 
dentally to  show  its  bearing  on  the  plot  of  Crestien's  romance. 

1  PMLA,  XXIV  (1909),  385-398  S. 

2  Cf.,  especially,  Famell,  Cults  of  the  Greek  States,  IV,  36  flf.  In  addition  to  my  previ- 
ous references,  see  H.  Zimmer,  Der  babylonische  Gott  Tamuz,  Teubner,  1909;  Jane  Ellen 
Harrison,  Prolegomena  to  the  Study  of  Greek  Religion,  Cambridge,  1903,  especially  pp.  263, 
where  possible  matriarchal  aspects  of  the  Demeter-Kore  cult  are  brought  out;  R.  Pischel, 
Der  Ursprung  des  christlichen  Fischsymbols,  BerUn,  1905;  especially,  I.  Scheftelowitz, 
"Das  Fisch-Symbol  im  Judenthum  u.  Christenth.,"  in  the  Archiv  f.  Religionswiss.,  XIV 
(1911),  1-53;  321-392;  J.  J.  Bachofen,  Das  Mutterrecht,  Basel,  1897;  though  B.'s  theory 
of  matriarchy  as  a  political  system  is  not  accepted  by  ethnologists,  his  work  contains 
an  unusual  wealth  of  classical  material  bearing  on  our  subject.  Thus  he  observes  the 
association  of  the  male  principle  with  the  water,  Poseidon,  Dionysos,  Osiris,  Orpheus; 
see  pp.  39  flf.  "So  erscheinen  [p.  43]  zu  Dodona  Dione- Venus  und  Zeus-Acheloos,  jene 
die  stoflaiche  Erde,  der  Friichte  Mutter  (Apollod.  apud  Schol.  Od.  3,  91,  11.  5,  370,  16, 
233  sq;  Ser.  Aen.  3,  466;  Cic.  N.D.  3,  23;  Hesiod  Theog.  353,  etc.,  etc.),  dieser  die 
zeugende  Wasserkraft,  die  erst  in  der  Gebiu-t,  also  in  der  machtigen,  hochgewipfelten 
Eiche,  zur  Darstellung  gelangt";   fiu"ther,  pp.  239  fif. 

On  the  graU  problem  itself  additional  matter  is  adduced  by  L.  von  Schroeder  in  his 
Wurzeln  der  Sage  vom  heiligen  Gral  (Vienna  Academy,  Vol.  CLXVI) — cf.  also  "Der 
arische  Naturkult"  in  the  Bayreuther  Blatter,  July,  1911.  S.  equates  the  Fisher  King 
with  the  Norse  Hymir:  "Es  ist  [p.  66]  Thorr,  der  Gewittergott,  der  den  Bierkessel  der 
Gotter  von  Hymir  erobert,  wie  Indra,  der  Gewittergott,  es  ist,  der  den  Soma  oder  die 
Somakufe  dem  Vrita,  Vala,  Vivasvant  usw.  abgewinnt."  S.  also  mentions  the  caldron 
of  Odherir  (cf.  my  remarks,  op.  cit.,  405,  on  Mimir,  to  whom  it  belongs),  of  which  he  says: 
"Man  wird  Hymirs  Kessel  imd  den  Odherirs  niemals  verwechseln  und  kann  doch  erken- 
nen,  dass  beide  auf  dieselbe  Grundvorstellimg  zuriickgehen."  I  am  not  qualified  to  dis- 
cuss the  crux  of  Schroeder' s  theory  that  the  fundamental  idea  which  underlies  these 
parallels  is  "altarische  Sage  [p.  92] — in  der  uralten  Vorstellung  von  Sonne  und  Mond  als 
wunderbaren  hinunlischen  Gefiissen."  One  is  naturally  skeptical  about  such  generaliza- 
tions. Certainly,  it  is  a  bold  leap  from  Crestien's  silver  trencher  to  the  moon,  and  from 
the  grail  to  the  sun  (p.  91),  and  yet  I  do  not  wish  to  prejudge  the  case.  On  the  whole,  I 
am  more  inclined  to  agree  with  the  statement:  "nicht  nur  mythische,  sondem  auch 
291]  1  [MoDEEX  Philology,  January,  1912 


254870 


'2**"  '•'       ■  William  A.  Nitze 

I 

Perceval,  whose  name  is  not  revealed  until  after  the  grail-visit,  is 
called  by  Crestien  in  vs.  74*  (Pot.  II,  vss.  1920  fif.) :  li  fi{l)z  a  la  veve 
dame  (the  term  is  repeated  in  Perlesvaus,  p.  156).  In  accordance  with 
her  general  theory  of  mystical  origin,  Miss  Weston  saw^  in  the  term 
a  proof  of  ritualism.  Modern  mystics  informed  her  that  "Sons  of 
the  Widow  is  a  very  wide-spread  synonym  for  Initiates";  and  its 
occurrence  in  ancient  Egypt  and  among  the  sect  of  the  Manicheans 
would  give  probability  to  this  suggestion.  But  without  following 
Miss  Weston  into  the  hazy  realm  of  modern  mysticism,  we  must 
admit  that  the  term  is  striking  and  whether  mystical  or  not  is  a 
suitable  appellation  for  one  concerned,  that  is,  in  Crestien,  with  the 
affairs  of  his  mother's  kin.  This  fact  will  appear  clearly  as  we 
proceed. 

In  the  passage  following  vs.  340  the  hero  says:  "  J'ai  nom  biax 
fi(l)z."  This  corresponds  to  Wolfram'  (Parzival),  §  140,  6:  "bon 
fiz,  scher  fiz,  bea  fiz,  alsus  hat  mich  genennet  der  mich  da  heime  erken- 
net" — and  whatever  other  significance  it  has,  illustrates  well  the 
hero's  ingenuousness,  for  thus  any  child  might  be  called  by  its 
parent.^  Directly  after  the  first  grail-visit,  the  hero's  cousin  ger- 
mane (Wolfram's  Sigune)  again  asks  his  name,  and  there  follows  this 
passage  (vss.  3534  ff.) : 

E  oil  qui  son  nom  ne  savoit 
Devine  et  dit  que  il  avoit 

kultliche  Wurzoln,  die  in  die  urarische  Zeit  ziiruckreichen,  werden  wir  daher  Im  Hinter- 
grunde  der  mannigfachen  keltischien  Erzahhmgen  von  Zaubergefassen  iind  ihrer  Gewin- 
nung  vermuten  mtissen."  Most  important  is  the  Rig- Veda  (8,  66)  version  of  Indra's 
conquest  of  the  celestial  Soma,  the  guardians  of  which  are  the  Gandharvon,  in  whom 
Hillebrandt  (V'ed.  Myth.,  I,  427,  note)  had  seen  the  "genius  of  fertility."  Without 
denying  this  feature,  S.  considers  the  Gandharven  as  the  soul  awaiting  incarnation  and 
compared  him  to  Lohengrin  (on  whom,  see  Pestalozzi,  Ilabiliiationsschrift,  1908).  In 
any  case,  he  it  is  who  opposes  Indra,  who  shoots  him  with  bis  arrow  "und  durchbohrt 
den  Gandharven  Im  bodenlosen  Luftraum."  The  Soma-offering  was  an  invocation  for 
rain  {Reyemauber)  and  Indra's  conquest  liberated  the  streams  and  rivers  (cf.  PMLA, 
XXIV  [1909],  395  ff.)-  But  it  is  incorrect  to  say  that  the  rain-making  feature  of  the 
grail  ceremony  Is  "ein  bisher  ganz  dunkcl  gebUeboner  Zug  der  Graldichtungen." 

>  I  cite  from  the  Baist  text  throughout. 

'  iStr  Perceval,  II,  306  ff.  "Perceval's  title,  perfectly  natural  given  the  donnies  of 
the  legend,  suggested  that  he  was  an  Initiate,  and  he  stepped  into  Gawain's  shoes." 

*  Cf.  also  the  Bel-Inconnu  group  of  poems,  which  I  intend  to  consider  in  a  separate 
article. 

*  On  the  use  of  biaus  frere,  see  W.  A.  Stowell,  Old  French  Titles  of  Respect,  147  ff.,  and 
Tappolet,    Verwandlscha/tsnamen. 

292 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  3 

Percevat^s  li  galois  a  non, 
E  ne  set  s'il  dit  voir  ou  non, 
E  il  dit  voir  si  ne  le  sot. 

That  is,  he  divines  or  guesses  his  real  name.  Whereupon  the  cousin 
informs  him  that  the  Fisher  King 

"eiist  regaaigniez 
Les  membres  e  terre  tenist, 
E[i]nsi  granz  biens  an  avenist," 

if  Perceval  had  asked  about  the  lance  and  the  grail.  She  explains 
further  that  his  failure  to  ask  was  due  to  the  sin  he  committed  in 
deserting  his  mother: 

"Per  le  pechie  ce  saches  tu 
De  ta  mere  t'  est  avenu."     (Vss.  3555  ff.) 

Now,  lest  the  fact  escape  us,  it  should  be  noted  at  once  that 
Perceval,  simple-minded  as  he  is  in  the  poem,  is  yet  fully  conscious 
of  his  duty  toward  his  mother.  The  neglect  of  this  filial  obhgation, 
owing  to  his  enthusiasm  for  chivalry  (Perceval's  desmesure),  is  one 
of  the  romantic  situations  of  the  Perceval  legend  which  has  not  always 
been  brought  out  by  the  commentators.     Having  been  invested  with 

La  plus  haute  ordre  avoec  I'espee 
Que  Dews  a  faite  e  comandee 
C'est  I'ordre  de  chevalerie, 

Perceval  is  first  of  all  desirous : 

Que  a  sa  mere  venir  puisse 

E  que  sain[ne]  e  vive  la  truisse.     (Vss.  1676  ff.) 

And  later,  when  Blanchefleur  has  wooed  and  won  him  so  that  he 
vanquishes  Clamadeus  and  his  seneschal,  the  excuse  he  gives  for  his 
sudden  departure  is  that  he  must  seek  his  mother: 

"Que  ge  ma  mere  veoir  vois."     (Vss.  2915  ff.) 

But  his  absence  is  to  be  temporary;  he  will  return  with  his  mother: 

il  lor  met  an  covenant 
S'il  trueve  sa  mere  \avant 
Que  avoec  lui  I'an  amanra 
E  d'iluec  [anl  avant  tanra 
La  terre,  ce  sachiez  de  fi ; 
E  se  ele  est  morte  autresi.^ 

>  The  last  linejis  significant  as  indicating  the  conclusion  of  the  story. 

293 


4  William  A.  Nitze 

Again,  he  is  imploring  God  for  a  glimpse  of  her  (vs.  2944:  Qu'il 
doint  veoir  sa  mere)  when  he  meets  the  fisherman  who  directs  him 
to  the  Castle  of  the  Grail. 

Yet,  as  we  saw,  the  fact  that  he  deserted  her  sealed  his  lips  in 
the  presence  of  the  grail,  and  as  a  consequence  great  suffering  will 
befall  mankind  ("enui  an  avandra  toi  e  autrui";  of.  vss.  3553  ff.). 
It  appears  then  that  the  return  to  the  mother  (the  7notif  of  desertion) 
is  of  more  than  incidental  importance.  Later  romances  of  the 
Perceval  cycle,  such  as  the  Perlesvaus  and  even  Syr  Percyvelle, 
bear  out  this  conclusion.  The  "return"  is  an  obligation  the  hero 
is  bound  to  fulfil,  since  failing  to  fulfil  it  he  fails  ipso  facto — in  Cres- 
tien — in  his  most  important  adventure.  The  dramatic  interest  of 
our  poem  lies  between  these  two  poles  of  action:  the  obligation  to 
the  mother  and  the  visit  to  the  Grail  Castle,  and  it  seems  improb- 
able that  a  genuine  Perceval  tale  ever  existed  without  them.  In 
Syr  Percyvelle,  which  to  be  sure  some  scholars  have  considered  primi- 
tive, the  bond  which  united  Perceval  to  the  Fisher  King  seems  to 
me  to  have  been  transferred  to  King  Arthur,  in  my  opinion,  probably 
a  later  development.^  Moreover,  the  Good  Friday  episode,  that  is, 
the  interview  with  the  hermit-uncle,  is  now  seen  to  be  the  necessary 
consequence  of  what  has  preceded.  The  mother  having  died,  Per- 
ceval is  obliged  to  atone  for  her  death  if  the  curse  for  which  he  is 
responsible  is  to  be  removed.  Hence  the  hermit's  solicitude,  ex- 
pressed in  the  words  :2 

"Or  te  vuel  anjoindrc  e  doner 
Penitance  de  ce  peclii^." 

>  Cf.  below,  p.  26.  In  Crestien  the  connection  with  Arthur's  court  appears  loosely 
knit.  At  the  same  time,  the  connection  may  antedate  Crestien;  he  mentions  Perceval  as 
an  Arthurian  knight  in  his  Erec,  vs.  1525.  The  Arthurian  portion  of  the  Conte  del  Graal 
repeats  virtually  the  technique  of  the  Ivain:  (1)  motif  ot  vengeance;  (2)  fight  with  a  red 
knight;  (3)  wooing  of  the  hero — "otherworld"  visit;  (4)  search  of  the  hero  by  the 
Arthurian  court;  (5)  unhorsing  of  Keus;  (6)  return  of  the  hero  to  court;  (7)  messenger 
denounces  the  hero;    (8)  hero  departs  and  wanders  distraught. 

'  Vss.  1394-1395.  In  Wolfram,  Book  IX,  the  motive  for  the  question  is  pity,  a  feeling 
still  foreign  to  the  youtliful  Parzival's  heart.     Cf.  §  473,  15: 

daz  er  niht  zcm  wirto  sprach 

umbon  kumber  den  cr  an  im  sach. 
According  to  Wolfram's  ethical  interpretation  the  hero  thus  commits  a  fresh  sin,  since  he 
was  evidently  free  to  ask.     Cf.  §  473,  IS: 

doch  muoz  er  siindo  engolten, 

daz  cr  niht  fragte  des  wirtes  schaden. 
This  sin  he  atones  for,  together  with  that  of  his  mother's  death,  at  Trevrizcnt's  cell. 
But  Wolfram  no  longer  makes  the  mother's  death  responsible  for  the  hero's  failure.     At 

294 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  5 

But  why,  we  ask,  should  the  success  of  the  grail  ceremony  and  the 
welfare  of  its  two  kings  depend  on  Perceval's  conduct  toward  his 
parent  ?    For  the  simple  reason,  I  believe,  that  Perceval,  like  Gawain 
in  the  main  Arthurian  tradition,  is  a  sister's  son. 
In  the  English  ballad^  Arthur  says  to  his  nephew : 

"  Come  here,  cuzen  Gawaine  so  gay. 
My  sisters  sonne  be  yea." 

With  less  emphasis  but  implying  as  much,  the  hermit^  explains  to  the 
remorseful  Perceval: 

"Cil  cui  Fan  sert  fu  mes  frere, 
Ma  suer  e  soe  fu  ta  mere." 

In  other  words,  the  Grail  King  is  our  hero's  maternal  uncle,  and  a 
closer  male  relative  Perceval  could  not  have  had.  This  concept  is, 
I  think,  the  basis  of  Crestien's  plot.  Through  youthful  ardor 
Perceval  neglects  his  kin — that  same  kin,  in  the  person  of  his  maternal 
uncle,  stands  in  the  way  of  his  final  success  until  the  former  misdeed 
has  been  duly  expiated.  Not  only  was  the  success  of  the  grail- 
visit  to  benefit  the  kin,  but  its  failure  prolongs  the  suffering  of  its 
chief  representative,  and  inflicts  positive  harm  on  those  connected 
with  it.     Therefore  the  messenger  proclaims  to  Arthur's  court  in 

vss.  4640  ff . : 

"Dames  an  perdront  lor  mariz, 
Terres  an  seront  esilli^es, 
E  puceles  desconseilliees 
Qui  orfelines  remandront, 
E  maint  chevalier  an  morront, 
E  tuit  avront  le  mal  par  toi."^ 

the  same  time  the  kinship  ties  are  essentially  those  mentioned  by  Crestien  (see  below). 
Trevrizent  calls  Parzival,  §  475,  19:  "lieber  swester  suon,"  and  adds  a  significant  detail 
not  fomid  in  Crestien ;  namely,  that  in  killing  the  Red  Knight  (Ither,  according  to  Wol- 
fram) Perceval  has  slain  his  own  kin  ("din  eigen  verch  erslagn"),  for  Ither  is  Parzival's 
cousin  (on  the  paternal  side,  §  498,  13),  himself  the  sister's  son  of  Uther  Pendragon, 
§  145,  12.  His  death  Parzival  is  also  to  reqiiite.  Thus  Wolfram  has  complicated  further 
the  bonds  of  relationship,  whether  on  his  own  initiative  or  not  is  impossible  to  tell,  making 
the  connection  between  the  Arthurian  court  and  the  Grail  dynasty  more  intimate  than 
in  Crestien.  On  the  other  hand,  his  hero  has  advanced  a  step  in  that  the  motive  of  his 
silence  is  no  longer  an  external  "taboo"  but  a  youthful  lack  of  human.  Christian  sym- 
pathy. 

1  King  Arthur  and  King  Cornwall;  see  Sargent  and  Kittredge,  Eng.  and  Scot.  Pop. 
Ballads  (Boston,  1904),  p.  50.  Compare  the  interesting  article  of  Professor  Gummere  in 
the  Furnivall  Miscellany,  where  additional  instances  may  be  found. 

2  Vss.  6377  fif. 

'  Cf.  Parzival,  §§  316  ff.,  where  there  is  no  trace  of  this  general  effect  in  the  mes- 
senger's imprecation.     See  above,  p.  4,  note. 

295 


6  William  A.  Nitze 

Indeed,  the  messenger's  reference  to  Fortune  i^ 

"Ha!  Percevaus  fortune  est  chauve 
Derriers  e  devant  chevelue, 
E  dahez  ait  qui  te  salue!" — 

which  the  author  of  the  Perlesvaus^  elaborated,  is  singularly  appro- 
priate to  this  dramatic  moment.  There  is  almost  a  touch  of  Greek 
feeling  in  the  maimer  in  which  the  poet  here  portrays  the  inexor- 
ableness  of  fate. 

In  agreement  with  this  fundamental  notion  of  the  sanctity  of 
kinship,  we  find  that  the  poem  carefully  explains  all  the  kinship  ties, 
and  that  with  one  exception  these  are  all  on  the  maternal  side. 
Like  the  Grail  King,  the  hermit  to  whom  Perceval  does  penance  is  a 
maternal  uncle,  the  Fisher  King  is  a  cousin  germane,  likewise  the 
damsel  whom  Perceval  meets  outside  the  Grail  Castle  (vs.  3562). 
Blanchefieur,  of  course,  belongs  to  a  different  gens,  but  her  uncle 
is  Gornemanz,^  whose  brother  germane  was  slain  by  Anguinguerron 
(vs.  2270),  their  common  enemy.  The  exception  is  found  in  the 
account  given  of  the  hero's  father  by  Perceval's  mother  (vss.  398- 
468;  Pot.,  II,  vss.  1607-1682).  The  father  was  feared  An  totes  Us 
isles  de  mer;  the  son  may  boast,  says  the  mother: 
"Que  vos  ne  descheez  de  rien 

De  son  lignage  ne  del  mien, 

Car  je  fui  de  chevaliers  nee 

Des  mellors  de  ceste  contree. 

Es  isles  de  mer  n'ot  lignage 

Meillor  del  mien  an  mon  aage."     (Vss.  401-406.) 

The  passage  I  have  italicized  shows  where  the  emphasis  is  placed; 
that  is,  although  the  mother  is  speaking  of  her  husband  she  stresses 
her  own  lineage.^  Besides,  it  would  have  been  unusual  had  Crestien 
made  no  reference  to  Perceval's  father  (cf.  his  other  romances, 
especially  Cliges).  As  I  have  stated  elsewhere  the  manner  of  the 
father's  wounding  {parmi  les  handles)  is  so  similar  to  that  of  the 
Fisher  King  that  it  possesses  little  originality.^    While,  then,  I  see 

>  Vss.  4608  fl.    Cf.  MLN,  VIII  (1893),  230-38.  for  the  history  of  the  expression. 
»  Pot.,  I,  24  fr. 

•  In  Peredur  Gomemanz  is  confused  with  the  hero's  own  uncle;  see  Loth,  Mabinog., 
II,  59;    Hertz,  Parz.*,  479. 

•  Cf.  PerleavauB,  p.  185. 

»  MLN,   XXV  (1910).  249.     See,  also  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,   Historia,  XI,  1-2, 
where  Arthur  himself  is  wounded  Uialiler  and  carried  to  Avalon  to  be  healed.     1  tried 

296 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  7 

no  reason  for  agreeing  with  NewelP  that  "the  passage,  intended  to 
emphasize  the  woes  of  the  widow  seems  ....  obviously  to  be  the 
work  of  a  later  hand,"  nevertheless  Wolfram's  statement  that  the 
mother  was  already  a  widow  at  the  time  of  her  flight  to  the  woods 
appears  to  me  closer  to  the  original  situation.  To  what  apparent 
absurdities  the  uncertainty  as  to  Perceval's  father  could  lead  is  seen 
in  the  Perlesvaus,^  where  the  father  is  still  living  when  the  son  leaves 
home.  The  other  references  Crestien  makes — in  this  connection — 
to  Uther  Pendragon  (pere  le  hon  roi  Artu),  the  King  of  (Es)cavalon, 
and  Ban  de  Gomeret,^  are  perhaps  inspired  by  the  desire  to  connect 
the  tale  more  intimately  with  the  Arthurian  setting,  though  it  is 
well  not  to  affirm  this  too  strongly.  In  any  case,  since  Crestien 
has  not  given  the  father  a  name,  and  does  not  so  much  as  mention 
him  again,  we  may  assume  that  to  all  intents  and  purposes  he  was 
nameless,  and  that  his  having  once  existed  is  a  fact  of  no  genuine 
importance  to  the  plot  of  the  romance.  Thus  it  follows  that  a 
primary  condition  of  the  story  is  kinship,  and  that  this  kinship  is 
matrilinear  or  matriarchal. 

The  full  significance  of  this  I  shall  bring  out  presently.  It  may 
be  noted  first  that  the  outline  of  the  story  conforms  entirely  to  this 
situation:  A  youth  of  uncertain  fatherhood  fares  forth  into  the 
world  to  win  renown,  and  an  inheritance.  His  ignorance  of  life 
appears  in  various  foolish  or  ill-advised  acts  he  commits.  But  he 
is  valiant  and  strong,  and  obtains  assistance  (instruction)  from  those 
who  require  his  support.  He  frees  a  luckless  maiden  from  oppres- 
sors and  then  weds  her.  The  maiden  virtually  offers  herself  to  him. 
He  comes  within  reach  of  his  goal,  and  is  on  the  point  of  being  recog- 
nized and  established  by  his  nearest  kin  (the  maternal  uncle),  but 
fails  at  first  because  his  mother  has  died  through  his  neglect. 

to  make  clear  in  my  "Fisher  King"  that  the  GraU  King,  and  not  his  son,  seems  to  have 
been  originally  the  "important"  person.  In  Crestien  he  is  stiU  the  uncle,  though  it  is  his 
son  (i.e.,  his  earthly  representative)  who  is  to  be  cured.  Cf.  the  reviews  of  my  article: 
F.  Lot,  Bibl.  de  I'ecole  des  chartes,  LXX  (1909);  A.  Nutt,  Folk-Lore,  XXI  (1910),  112  ff.; 
E.  Brugger,  ZffS.,  XXXVI  (2-4)  (1910),  71-74;  L.  Jordan,  Literaturbl.,  XXXII  (1911), 
335-37. 

^King  Arthur  and  the  Table  Round  (Boston  1897),  II,  252. 

2  Pot.  I,  19.  In  Perlesvaus  the  hero  is  descended  through  his  father  from  Glais 
(patronymic  of  Glastonbury,  see  MP,  I  [1903],  248)  and  through  him  from  Nicodemus. 

'  Cf .  Erec,  VS.  1811:  V usage  Pendragon  man  pere  ....  doi  je  garder  e  maintenir; 
vs.  1975:  vint  li  rois  Bans  de  Gomeret;  on  Escavalon,  see  the  Gawain  part  of  the  Conte  del 
Graal. 

297 


8  William  A.  Nitze 

As  is  well  known,  Crestien  did  not  complete  his  romance.  In 
fact,  in  MS  794  the  text  breaks  off  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence.  But 
from  what  has  been  said  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  having  atoned  for 
his  fault,  Perceval  was  doubtless  to  return  to  the  Grail,  perhaps  to 
be  initiated  into  its  mystery,^  probably  to  succeed  the  Fisher  King,  and 
of  course  to  be  reunited  to  Blanchefleur.  Any  other  plan  on  Cres- 
tien's  part  seems  to  me  precluded.  The  continuation  of  the  poem 
found  in  MS  Bern  113 — the  so-called  Rochat  Perceval^ — practically 
ends  in  this  way  :^  the  Fisher  King  before  dying  says : 

"Ore,  biaus  ni^s,  si  est  bien  drois, 
ains  que  vos  avant  en  sacois, 
que  vos  corone  d'or  port^s, 
sor  vostre  cief,  et  rois  seres, 
car  ne  vivrai  mais  que  tier  ior, 
ensi  plaist  il  a  creator." 

So  much  for  the  problem  presented  to  us.  The  matriarchal  idea 
is  evidently  the  Leitmotiv  of  Crestien's  work  in  contradistinction  to 
Wolfram  and  the  later  romancers,  whose  hero  is  actuated  by  Chris- 
tian ideals — in  Wolfram  by  "pity,"  in  the  Quest-versions  by 
"purity,"  to  which  the  author  of  the  Perlesvaus  adds  the  Augustinian 
idea  of  grace  ("Sire,  fit  li  hermites,  or  n'oubliez  pas  a  demander,  se 
Diex  le  vos  veust  consantir,  ce  que  li  autres  chevaliers  oubha*). 

Let  us  now  inquire  into  matriarchy  as  a  system,  the  evidence  of 
its  survival  in  the  territory  from  which  Crestien's  work  may  have 
come,  the  references  to  the  idea  in  other  story-material  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and  the  significance  of  Crestien's  Conte  del  Graal  as 
an  illustration  of  the  system. 

II 

Generally  speaking,  matriarchy  is  the  system  of  tracing  family 
descent  through  the  mother's  line,  and  is  not  to  be  confused  with 

>  See  my  "Fisher  King,"  PMLA,  XXIV  (1909).  365  ff. 

'  Cf.  A.  Rochat,  Ueber  einen  unbekannten  Percheral  le  Gallois.  Zurich,  1855,  p.  91;  in 
this  version  the  Fisher  King  is  P.'s  uncle;  see  Hcinzel,  Franzda.  Gralromane,  58  fl. 

»  Compare  also  the  ending  of  the  Parzital,  §§  781  fl.:  Parzival  joins  his  wife  and  two 
sons  at  the  Grail  Castle,  asks  the  question,  thus  releasing  Amfortas,  and  becomes  ruler  of 
the  Grail  liingdom.    Also  Didot-Perceval,  Hucher  I,  484-485;  Weston,  Sir  Perceval.  II,  84. 

*  Pot.,  I,  83;  cf.  also  130:  "Et  Damediex  li  doint  tel  volenti  et  vos  autresi;  que  vos 
puissiez  feire  la  volenti  au  Sauvfior";  also  5,  89  ff.  "Pity"  Gawain  has  in  Perlesvaus, 
89:  "si  an  a  grant  piti6.  et  ne  U  souvient  d'autro  chose  que  de  la  doulor  que  cil  rois 
soufre" — yet  this  does  not  suffice. 

298 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  9 

gynocracy  or  the  supremacy  of  women.  It  is  defined  with  German 
precision  by  Schrader^  as  "jene,  wie  die  Volkerkunde  lehrt,  noch 
heute  bei  gewissen  Volkern  des  Erdballs  iibhche  Familienordnung, 
die  zwar  den  Begriff  des  Ehemanns  (auf  langere  oder  kiirzere  Dauer) 
nicht  aber  den  des  Vaters  kennt,  weil  eben  die  Kinder  nicht  dem 
Vater,  sondern  der  Mutter  gehoren  und  nicht  den  Vater  oder  Vater- 
bruder,  sondern  die  Mutter,  beziiglich  den  Mutterbruder  oder 
miitterhchen  Grossoheim  beerben."  Essentially  then,  matriarchy  is 
a  law  of  descent  based  on  "the  larger  social  fact,  including  the  bio- 
logical one,  that  the  bond  between  mother  and  child  is  the  closest  in 
Nature."-  In  recent  writers  on  this  subject  it  is  made  clear  that 
while  the  expression  of  the  male  power  is  obscured,  the  principle  of 
male  authority  is  always  in  force,  and  the  tribal  matriarchal  group 
may  be  defined  as  "a  fighting  male  organization  living  in  a  group  of 
females."^  Hence  it  is  not  inconsistent  to  find  in  the  Perceval  story 
man  physically  and  politically  supreme  and  yet  filiation  taking  place 
on  the  side  of  woman. 

While  power  is  thus  vested  in  the  male,  the  leader  of  the  group  is 
not  the  blood  father  but  the  mother's  nearest  male  relative,  usually 
her  oldest  brother.*  This  necessarily  resulted  from  the  ephemeral 
nature  of  primitive  marriage  and  from  the  custom  that  the  husband 
during  the  period  of  cohabitation  resided  with  his  wife's  kin.^     In 

1  Indogermanen  (1911),  pp.  75  fl. 

2  From  W.  I.  Thomas,  Sex  and  Society  (Chicago,  1907),  p.  66.  The  sociological 
literature  on  the  subject  is  large  and  is  constantly  growing.  In  the  main,  I  have  followed 
the  following  authorities:  E.  Westermarck,  The  History  of  Human  Marriage,  39-100  ff; 
L.  von  Dargun,  Mutterrecht  u.  Raubehe,  Breslau,  1883;  idem,  Mutterrecht  u.  Vaterrecht, 
Leipzig,  1892;  J.  J.  Bachofen,  Das  Mutterrecht,  Stuttgart,  1861;  E.  W.  Hopkins,  Journal 
of  American  Oriental  Society,  XIII,  56fif. ;  B.  Delbriick,  " Indogermanische  Verwandt- 
schaftsnamen,"  Saxon  Academy  of  Sciences,  XI,  586  flf.;  O.  Schrader,  Prehistoric  Antiq- 
uities of  the  Aryan  People  (tr.  Jevons),  (London,  1890,)  pp.  395  fif. ;  G.  Wilken,  Das  Matri- 
arcat  bei  den  alten  Arabern,  Leipzig,  1884;  W.  Robertson  Smith,  Kinship  and  Marriage 
in  Early  Arabia,  1885;  H.  Ploss,  Das  Weib  in  der  Natur-  und  Volkerkunde^,  II,  379;  E.  B, 
Tylor,  "Matriarchal  Family  System,"  Nineteenth  Century,  1896,  p.  89;  M.  A.  Potter. 
Sohrab  and  Rustem  (London,  1902),  pp.  107  fl.;  E.  S.  Hartland,  Primitive  Paternity  (Lon- 
don, 1909),  I,  chap,  iv,  "Motherright."  I  was  vmable  to  procure  Otto  Hoffmann,  "Die 
Verwandtschaft  mit  der  Sippe  der  Frau,"  in  the  Festschrift  zur  Jahrhundertfeier  der  Uni- 
versitdt  zu  Breslau. 

8  Cf.  Thomas,  op.  cit.,  69,  note.  Perhaps  it  is  safer  to  say,  instead  of  "a  group  of 
females,"  a  group  of  which  the  female  is  the  imit  of  descent.  I  would  guard  against  the 
danger  of  overstating  the  case.  See,  for  example,  in  reference  to  the  Greeks,  Fame  11, 
Archivf.  Religionswiss.,  VII  (1904),  70  and  H.  J.  Rose,  Folk-Lore,  XXII  (1911),  277. 

^  Dargun,  op.  cit.,  56-57;    Hartland,  Primitive  Paternity,  I,  99. 

5  Hartland,  op.  eit.,  I,  59  ff. 

299 


N 


X 


10  William  A.  Nitze 

this  way  the  sister  gains  great  prominence  in  the  social  system^ 
since  it  is  her  son  who  succeeds  to  the  potestas  of  the  family.  "The 
practice  of  the  Wamoima  [in  Africa],"  says  Thomas,^  "where  the  son 
of  the  sister  is  preferred  in  legacies,  because  'a  man's  own  son  is 
only  the  son  of  his  wife/  is  typical."  Examples  have  been  gathered 
from  almost  every  part  of  the  world  which  establish  the  correctness 
of  this  statement.  Wherever  matriarchy  prevails  or  prevailed,  and 
its  occurrence  is  exceedingly  widespread,  the  tendency  constantly 
is  to  accord  the  nephew  or  niece  more  importance  than  the  direct 
offspring.  A  few  striking  cases  may  be  cited;  for  others  I  refer  to 
the  authorities  cited  in  the  footnotes. 

On  the  island  of  Efate  in  the  New  Hebrides  a  kindred  or  family  reckon- 
ing descent  from  the  same  mother  in  female  line  is  called  nakainanga 

Hence  it  was  the  duty  of  a  man  to  instruct  his  sister's  son,  not  his  own 
son,  because  he  was  not  of  the  same  nakainanga  and  the  father  would  not 
be  responsible  for  him.  The  chief  of  a  village  has  the  right  to  appoint  his 
successor.  He  appoints  not  his  own  son,  "but  in  preference  to  all  others  his 
sister's  son,  who  by  the  law  of  the  nakainanga  is  considered  nearer  and  dearer 
to  him  than  his  own  son,  and  to  be  his  proper  heir."^ 

Among  the  Tahl-tan  of  British  Columbia  "kinship  so  far  as  mar- 
riage or  inheritance  of  property  goes,  is  with  the  mother  exclusively; 
and  the  father  is  not  considered  a  relative  by  blood."'*  The  Wyandot 
Indians,  according  to  J.  W.  Powell,^  recognize  four  groups:  the 
family,  the  gens,  the  phratry,  and  the  tribe. 

The  gens  is  an  organized  body  of  consanguineal  kindred  in  the  female 
line.  "The  woman  carries  the  gens"  is  the  formulated  statement  by  which 
a  Wyandot  expresses  the  idea  that  descent  is  in  the  female  line.  Each  gens 
has  the  name  of  some  animal,  the  ancient  of  such  animal  being  its  tutelar 

god Each  gens  is  allied  to  other  gentes  by  consanguineal  kinship 

through  the  male  line,  and  by  affinity  through  marriage Children, 

irrespective  of  sex,  belong  to  the  gens  of  the  mother." 

«  See  J.  J.  Bachofon,  Antiquarische  Brief e,  I,  144-209,  for  the  intimate  ties  between 
brother  and  sister. 

•  Op.  cit.,  62;   from  J.  Lippert.  Kulturgeachichte,  II,  57. 

»  See  Hartland.  I.  291.  from  Rev.  D.  Macdonald  in  Rep.  Auslr.  Assoc,  IV,  722-23. 

*  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  I,  280,  from  Dawson,  Am.  Rep.  Geol.  Survey  Canada,  1887, 
pp.  7  ff. 

'  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  I,  59  (T. 

300 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  11 

In  northeast  India  "the  son  does  not  succeed  his  father,  but  the 
raja's  neglected  offspring  may  become  a  common  peasant  or  laborer; 
the  sister's  son  succeeds  to  rank,  and  is  heir  to  the  property."^ 

In  Loango  [in  Africa]  the  uncle  is  addressed  as  Tate  (father).  He  exer- 
cises paternal  authority  over  his  nephew,  whom  he  can  even  sell.  The 
father  has  no  power;  and  if  the  husband  and  wife  separate  the  children 
foUow  the  mother  as  belonging  to  her  brother.  They  inherit  from  their 
mother;  the  father's  property,  on  the  other  hand,  goes  at  his  death  to  his 
brother  (by  the  same  mother)  or  to  his  sister's  sons.^ 

Possible  traces  of  the  system  are  found  in  the  Bible:  Sarah  is 
related  to  Abraham  only  on  the  paternal  side  (Gen.  20:12);  Tamar 
could  have  become  the  wife  of  Amnon,  her  half-brother  (II  Sam. 
13:13);  Laban  tells  Jacob:  "These  daughters  are  my  daughters, 
and  these  children  are  my  children"  (Gen.  31:43),  and  the  well- 
known  marriage  injunction  is:  "Therefore  shall  a  man  leave  his 
father  and  his  mother,  and  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife"  (Gen.  2:24). 
The  laws  of  Solon  in  Athens  also  permitted  the  marriage  of  brother 
and  sister  who  were  not  of  the  same  mother.^  Herodotus^  says: 
"Ask  a  Lycian  who  he  is,  and  he  will  answer  by  giving  his  own  name, 
that  of  his  mother,  and  so  on  in  the  female  line."  According  to  W. 
Robertson  Smith^  the  ancient  Arab  sentiment  held  the  sanctity  of 
women  to  be  inviolate,  the  greatest  of  insults  being  an  insult  to 
them — an  idea  which  he  traces  to  female  kinship. 

Accordingly,  the  bond  between  brother  and  sister  is  scarcely 
second  to  that  uniting  mother  and  son.^  Antigone  in  Sophocles 
endures  for  Polynices  toil  and  suffering  that  she  would  not  have 
undergone  for  husband  or  children.'^  The  wife  of  Intaphernes, 
Herodotus^  tells  us,  when  allowed  by  Darius  to  claim  the  life  of  a 
single  man  of  her  kin,  chose  her  brother,  sajdng  that  husband  and 
children  could  all  be  replaced.     In  this  connection  the  student  of 

'Tylor,  op.  cit.,  p.  87. 

2  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  I,  281.  From  A.  Bastian,  Deutsche  Exped.  an  der  Loango-Kustt 
(Jena.  1874-75),  I,  166. 

3  Wilken,  op.  cit.,  41. 

*  Rawlinson,  I,  173;   cf.  Thomas,  op.  cit.,  64. 

»  Op.  cit.,  100  ff. 

'  See  especially  J.  J.  Bachofen,  Antiquarische  Brief e,  I,  144-209,  and  Potter, 
op.  cit.,  196. 

'  Thomas,  op.  ct7.,  65.  »  Rawlinson,  III,  119. 

301 


12  William  A.  Nitze 

Arthurian  romance  is  at  once  reminded  of  the  significant  role  taken 
by  Perceval's  sister  in  the  Quest-versions^  and  the  striking  passage 
in  the  Conte  del  Graal  (vss.  8697  ff.)  where  Sir  Gawain  plays  an 
important  part  in  the  affairs  of  his  female  kindred.^  So,  too,  Pro- 
fessor Gummere  finds  in  his  ballad  studies^  that  brother  and  sister 
afford  older  instances  of  confidence  and  affection  than  husband  and 
wife  or  lover  and  sweetheart.  Ballad  literature  records  the  same 
preference  of  the  sister's  son  over  a  man's  own  child  which  we  noted 
above  apropos  of  African  savages — a  condition  which  Tacitus^  posits 
of  the  ancient  Germans  in  the  words:  "quidam  sanctiorem  arti- 
oremque  hunc  nexum  sanguinis  arbitrantur  et  in  accipiendis  obsidi- 
bus  magis  exigunt,  tamquam  et  animum  firmius  et  domus  latins 
teneant."  Gummere  cites  an  excellent  example,^  probably  the  best 
on  record,  of  the  concentration  of  this  kinship  bond,  in  the  Danish 
ballad  Nilus  og  HilleliUe;  here  the  marriage  of  Sir  Nilus  places  in 
mortal  conflict  brother  and  sister,  two  sister's  sons,  and  the  maternal 
uncle. 

While,  therefore,  the  matriarchal  system  put  the  maternal  uncle 
in  an  exalted  place,  as  the  chief  of  the  clan — the  juridical  iruT-qp  of 
the  family — granting  him  control  over  its  children,  the  physical 
father,  if  recognized  at  all,  was  quite  a  subordinate  personage. 
This  practice  obtained,  as  has  frequently  been  shown,  as  long  as 
women  controlled  the  marital  arrangement,  as  long  as  they  exercised 
the  primary  right  of  selection  and  possessed,  as  they  did  in  ancient 
Arabia,^  the  privilege  of  dismissing  their  husbands  and  choosing 
others.     Says  Hartland:^ 

Where  the  matrilineal  clan  is  in  full  force,  or  where  the  family  has  been 
formed  within  the  larger  organisation  of  the  clan  but  has  not  yet  succeeded 
in  supplanting  it  for  effective  social  government,  the  husband  remains 
subordinate  to  the  wife's  male  kinsmen,  her  uncles  or  her  brothers. 

>  See  Jessie  L.  Weston.  Sir  Perceval,  II,  chap,  v;  Brugger.  ZffS.,  XXX  (1904)  (6-8), 
126  ff. 

»  Quant  ele  do  fl  Ic  savra 
Qu'  cle  est  sa  suer  et  il  ses  frere 
S  'an  avra  grant  joie  sa  mere 
Autre  que  ele  n'i  atant.     (Vss.  9034  ff.) 
Cf.  also  Weston,  op.  cii.,  I.  209. 

•  The  Popular  Ballad,  182  ff.  *  Germ.  20.  9.  Op.  cil.,  183. 

•  J.  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cil.,  65  ff.  '  Primitive  Paternity,  II.  94. 

302 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  13 

And  even  when  the  family  as  such  has  become  firmly  established, 
the  sons  sometimes  still  pass  at  an  early  age  to  their  uncle's  care  or 
must  be  purchased  from  the  wife  if  they  are  to  continue  in  the 
father's  control.^  The  rise  of  the  paternal  supremacy  is  a  moot 
question  which  camiot  be  discussed  here.  Nor  does  it  affect  our 
problem  directly,  though  it  may  enter  into  the  larger  question  of  the 
primary  motifs  of  Arthurian  romance.  But  for  the  present  that  is 
neither  here  nor  there,  and  it  is  enough  to  note  that  primitive  man 
is  averse  to  sudden,  radical  change,  and  even  long  after  the  triumph 
of  the  male,  the  social  sanctions  of  the  past  obtain  to  a  considerable 
extent.  So  that  we  may  find  "a  formal  elevation  of  woman  to  author- 
ity in  groups  where  the  actual  control  is  in  the  hands  of  men."^ 
Moreover,  we  should  not  forget  that  the  word  ''clan"  is  essentially 
a  sociological  term.  Only  in  a  general  way  is  it  synonymous  with 
blood-relationship.^  While  the  blood-bond  is  considered  to  unite 
the  various  members  of  a  clan,  it  can  be  acquired  through  ceremony, 
or  by  sucking  the  blood  of  a  member  of  the  clan,  as  Cuchulinn  sucks 
that  of  Dervorgil,  thus  becoming  her  blood-brother.^  In  this  way, 
"many  savage  peoples  are  organized  as  totemic  clans,  each  clan 
bearing  the  name  of  an  animal  or  plant  supposed  to  be  akin  to  the 
human  members  of  the  clan,"^  The  clan  once  constituted,  each 
member  shared  in  the  privileges  and  deprivations  to  which  any 
member  thereof  was  liable.  He  was  entitled  to  protection,  but  he 
was  compelled  to  guard  the  clan  against  attack  and  to  take  part  in 
its  feuds  and  avenge  injuries  to  it.  But  his  greatest  restriction  was 
"the  prohibition  to  marry  or  have  sexual  relations  with  any  woman 

1  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  II,  99.  2  Thomas,  op.  cit.,  73. 

3  See  the  clear  distinction  made  between  the  "physiological"  and  the  "social"  by 
Van  Gennep  in  his  Rites  de  passage,  Paris,  1909.  "C'est  [p.  4]  le  fait  meme  de  vlvre 
qui  necessite  les  passages  successifs  d'mie  societe  speciale  a  une  autre  et  d'une  situation 
sociale  a  une  autre:  en  sorte  que  la  vie  individueUe  consiste  en  une  succession  d'etapes 
dont  les  fins  et  commencements  forment  des  ensembles  de  meme  ordre  :  naissance,  puberte 
sociale,  mariage,  patemite,  progression  de  classe,  speciahsation  d'occupation,  mort. 
Et  a  chacun  de  ces  ensembles  se  rapportent  des  ceremonies  dont  I'objet  est  identique: 
faire  passer  I'individu  d'une  situation  determinee  a  ime  autre  situation  tout  aussi  dfiter- 
minee. "  And  in  speaking  of  initiations  proper  (p.  97):  "11  convient  done  de  distinguer 
de  la  puberU  physique  la  puberte  sociale,  de  meme  qu'on  distingue  entre  une  parents 
physique  (consanguinite)  et  une  parente  sociale,  entre  une  maturite  physique  et  une  maturitS 
sociale  (majorite),  etc."  I  follow  in  the  presentation  above  the  discussion  found  in 
Hartland,  op.  cit.,  I,  257  fl. 

*  Eleanor  Hull,  Cuchullin  Saga,  82. 

s  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  I,  257. 

303 


14  William  A.  Nitze 

of  the  kin."  Consequently  we  find  marriage  taking  place  with 
women  of  a  different  kin.  For  obvious  reasons,  the  theories  on  the 
origin  of  exogamy  camiot  be  discussed  here.^  Our  purpose,  however, 
is  served  in  recording  its  existence,  practically  the  world  over,  in 
connection  with  the  primitive  clan  organization.  Endogamous 
clans  there  were,  but  the  characteristic  tribal  life  was  exogamous. 
Upon  this  all  ethnologists  agree. ^ 

III 

In  considering  now  the  evidence  presented  by  Arthurian  litera- 
ture, we  naturally  look  first  of  all  to  the  Celts,  especially  as  we  have 
good  reasons  for  considering  the  grail  ceremony  to  be  in  the  main 
of  Celtic  origin.^  Relations  between  the  French  (Normans  and 
Angevins)  and  the  Celts  of  Brittany  and  Wales  were  intimate  from 
the  time  of  the  Conqueror  until  the  end  of  Henry  the  Second's  reign, 
while  there  was  inter-communication  between  Ireland  and  the  Con- 
tinent as  well  as  between  Ireland  and  Britain  long  before  and  during 
this  period.*  We  have  ample  reason  therefore  to  take  note  of  what 
the  ancient  Irish  law^  has  to  say  with  reference  to  the  duties  of  the 

•  Cf.  G.  E.  Howard,  History  of  Matrimonial  Institutions,  I,  117,  on  the  "problem 
of  exogamy."  Frazcr,  J.  G.,  in  his  Totemism  and  Exogamy  (New  York,  1910),  argues  for 
thp  separation  of  the  problem  of  exogamy  from  that  of  totemism.  See  with  respect  to 
his  views  the  discussion  in  Folk-Lore,  XXII  (1911),  48-81,  by  Westermarck,  A.  Lang,  and 
Van  Gennep. 

'  Frazer's  argument  (see  above)  is  that  exogamous  rules  sprang  from  an  aversion  to 
marriages  of  near  kin.  This  view  Lang  enlarges  {op.  cit.,  84)  by  saying  that  the  "aver- 
sions to  such  unions,  through  the  association  of  ideas,  led  to  the  proliibitions  of  marriage 
between  members  of  the  same  clan  on  account  of  the  notion  of  intimacy  connected  with  a 
common  descent  and  a  common  name."  Thomas,  op.  cit..  57,  says,  "aside  from  its  origin, 
exogamy  is  an  energetic  expression  of  the  male  nature.  Natural  selection  favors  the 
process  by  sparing  the  groups  which  by  breeding  out  have  heightened  their  physical 
vigor." 

»  See  my  previous  articles  in  PMLA,  XXIV  (1909),  and  Elliott- Studies  (1911). 

«  The  evidence  on  the  commimication  with  Ireland  has  recently  been  put  together 
by  Dr.  T.  P.  Cross  in  his  study  of  Marie's  Yonec  in  the  Revue  celtique,  XXXI  (1910). 
424  ff.,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  here.  On  Norman  and  Breton,  and  Norman- 
Welsh  relationships  see  the  historians  of  the  period:  notably  Freeman,  Norman  Con- 
Quest';  Davis,  England  under  the  Normans  and  Angevins,  London,  1905;  J.  E.  Lloyd 
History  of  Wales  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Edwardian  Conquest,  Vol.  11;  D'Arbois  de 
Jubainville,  Histoire  des  dues  et  comtes  de  Champagne,  Vol.  II;  Zimmer,  Gdtt.  gel.  Ameige 
No.  20,  1890;  J.  Loth,  Revue  celtique,  XIII  (1892),  475-503;  John  C.  Fox,  Eng.  Hist. 
Rev.,  XXV  (1910),  303-306;  Zimmer,  "Ueber  directe  Handelsverbindungen  Westgalliens 
mitlrland  Im  Alterthum  und  frUhen  Mittelalter,"  Prussian  Academy,  1910,  II. 

'  Cf.  Ancient  Laws  of  Ireland  (Senchas  mor),  Dublin,  1865-1901;  H.  D'Arbois  de 
Jubainville,  Risumi  d'un  cours  de  droit  irlandais,  Paris,  1888-92;  idem.  Etudes  sur  le 
droit  celtique,  Paris,  1895  (.Cours  de  litt.  celt.,  VII,  VIII);  idem.  La  famille  celtique,  Paris, 
1905;  Joyce,  Social  History  of  Ireland,  1903;  O'Curry,  Manners  and  Customs  of  th* 
Ancient  Irish,  3  vols. 

301 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  15 

kindred.  The  Irish  law  provides  that  when  a  sister's  son  has  been 
slain,  the  maternal  uncle  shall  avenge  him.^  Glasfine  is  the  technical 
name  given  him;  that  is,  in  D'Arbois'  words,^  "famille  grise  et 
bleue,  parce  que,  dit-on,  le  pere  est  un  etranger  qui  est  arriv^  en 
Irlande  sur  la  mer  grise  et  bleue;  il  n'a  par  consequent  pas  de  famille 
en  Irlande;  il  ne  peut  done  donner  une  famille  a  son  fils,  et  celui-ci 
est  considere  comme  faisant  partie  de  la  famille  de  sa  mere."  In 
harmony  with  this  idea  we  find  the  Irish  practice  of  tinnscra  or  male 
dowTy  (le  douaire),  essentially  a  form  of  the  bride-price.  A  passage  in 
the  Book  of  Leinster  accounts  for  it  on  a  legendary  basis.^  It  is  by 
this  means  that  Conchobar  becomes  king  of  Ulster,  for  when  Fergus, 
son  of  Rogh,  sues  for  the  hand  of  Conchobar's  mother,  she  stipulates 
as  a  marriage  portion  that  Conchobar  should  hold  the  kingdom  for  a 
year  so  that  his  children  may  be  known  as  the  children  of  a  king.* 

The  matrilinear  side  of  Celtic  tribal  life  is  also  seen  in  various 
provisions  of  old  Welsh  law.  For  example,  if  a  youth  or  maiden 
imder  twelve,  because  of  the  father's  death,  is  placed  under  guardian- 
ship, the  guardian  is  of  the  maternal  kin,  so  that  he  may  not  be 
tempted  to  deprive  his  charge  of  his  property  or  shorten  his  life.^ 
Again,  one  version  of  the  Vendotian  Code^  provided  that  in  case  of 
murder,  one-third  of  the  blood-money  (galanas)  had  to  be  paid  by  the 
murderer  and  his  father  and  mother,  if  living;  but  two-thirds  fell 
on  the  kindred,  which  "was  defined  as  'from  maternity  to  maternity 
unto  the  seventh  descent.'"  The  Welsh  law,  like  the  Irish,  made 
provision  that  when  a  girl  married  a  non-tribesman,^  the  responsi- 
bility for  her  sons  rested  with  the  maternal  kindred,  who  had  to 
provide  an  inheritance  and  pay  the  fine  in  case  they  committed  a 

1  Ancient  Laws.  IV,  244,  11.  20-22. 

»  Op.  cit.,  VII,  187  ff.     See  also  M.  A.  Potter,  op.  cii.,  125  flf. 

3  Cf.  D'Arbois,  op.  cit.,  233;  O'Curry,  Lectures  on  the  MS  Materials  of  Ancient  Irish 
History,  501. 

*  Ct.  E.  Hull,  Cuchullin  Saga;  Lady  Gregory,  Cuchulain  of  Muirthemne;  "Windisch 
ed.  of  Book  of  Leinster,"  Saxon  Academy,  XXXVI  (1884);  D'Arbois,  Epopee  celtique 
(Cours  de  lit.,  I). 

6  Walter,  Das  alte  Wales,  §  199;  also  Welsh  Medieval  Law  (Laws  of  Howel  the  Good), 
ed.  Wade-Evans,  Oxford,  1909. 

6  See  F.  Seebohm,  Tribal  System  in  Wales  (London,  1895),  p.  79  (for  a  different  version 
see  p.  80).  Consult  also  the  evidence  cited  by  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  I,  274;  and  A.  Owen, 
Ancient  Laws  and  Institutes  of  Wales,  109  ff. 

'  According  to  H.  Lewis,  Ancient  Laws  of  Wales  (1889),  pp.  56-57,  197,  marriage  had 
to  be  outside  of  the  trev  or  kindred  who  hved  in  one  inclosure. 

305 


16  William  A.  Nitze 

crime.^  "Das  Wichtigste,"  says  Walter,^  "aber  war  dass  solche 
Sohne  ihren  miitterlichen  Grossvater  neben  den  Briidern  ihrer  Mut- 
ter beerbten,  selbst  wenn  diese  die  Tochter  des  Grundherrn  war,  so 
dass  dann  deren  Sohn  der  Grundherr  seines  eigenen  Vaters  wurde." 
Thus  while  the  Celtic  clan,  at  the  time  we  can  observe  it  in  the 
extant  law  tracts,  was  maintained  on  the  agnatic  principle,  there  is 
ample  evidence  that  it  may  have  passed  through  the  matriarchal 
stage,'  traces  of  which  survive  until  relatively  late.  So  that  we  may 
agree  with  Lang^  that  the  presumption  is  that  Celtic  tribal  society 
developed  much  as  the  local  tribes  did  elsewhere,  on  the  basis  of 
kinship  as  first  reckoned  in  the  female  line. 

As  for  the  Picts  there  is  little  doubt  that  royal  succession  never 
went  from  father  to  son  in  early  times.  "Failing  brothers,"  says 
Lang,  "the  succession  went  to  the  son  of  the  sister."  Not  that 
women  were  politically  dominant.  "Im  Gegentheil,"  says  Zimmer,^ 
"nirgends  herrscht,  soviel  wir  sehen  eine  Frau:  die  Mutter,  also  die 
Geburt,  bestimmt  aber  die  Stammeszugehorigkeit.  Auf  einen 
Piktenherrscher  und  seine  Briider  folgt  nicht  etwa  der  Sohn  des 
altesten,  sondern  der  Sohn  der  Schwester,  auf  diesen  und  seine 
eventuellen  Briider  von  Mutterseite  folgt  wieder  ein  Schwestersohn 
und  so  fort." 


»  Wade-Evans,  op.  cii.,  211:  "If  a  Cymraes  (i.e.,  a  Cymric  woman]  be  given  to  an 
alltud,  her  children  shall  have  a  share  of  land  except  the  principal  homestead;  that  they 
are  not  to  receive  imtil  the  third  generation;  and  therefrom  originate  cattle  without 
surety,  because,  if  ho  commits  a  crime,  the  mother's  kindred  pay  the  whole  ot  his  galanas." 
Cf.  according  to  Walter,  the  Vendolian  Code  (Peniarth  MS,  29T  I,  97. 

2  Op.  cit.,  165. 

»  See  J.  E.  Lloyd,  History  of  Wales,  I,  284  tt. 

*  History  of  Scotland,  I,  78  ff.  Contrast  D'Arbois,  Cours  de  litt.  celt.,  VII,  242  ff.; 
also  S.  Ueinach,  Revue  celtique,  XXVIII  (1907),  233.  "  Le  droit  irlandais,"  says  D'Arbois 
(p.  246),  "conserve  a  la  puissance  paternelle  la  durfie  consacr6e  par  la  coutumo  primitive 
celto-romaine."  Yet,  the  son  of  a  sister,  the  aonMAC,  "avait  droit  a  I'usufruit  de  I'hfiri- 
tage  maternelle."  And:  "lo  privilege  modesto  accord6  au  flls  de  la  soeur  par  lo  droit 
Irlandais  nous  61oigne  du  droit  romain  avec  Icquel  s'accorde  le  droit  gaulois  quand,  en 
rfegle  g6n6ral,  il  fait  durer  la  puissance  patcrnelJe  aussi  longtemps  que  la  vie  du  p6re." 

'  Zeilsch.  der  Savigny-Sliftuno  fUr  Rechtsgeschichte,  XV  (1894),  218-19.  The  ethno- 
logical theories,  however,  which  Zimmer  sets  up  on  the  basis  of  the  above  fact  (see  pp. 
234  ff.)  must  be  taken  cum  grano  aalis.  See  Revue  celtique,  XVI  (1895),  188-20:  "La 
loi  irlandaisc  du  IX*  sificle,"  says  D'Arbois.  "admet  lo  droit  successoral  des  neveux  par 
les  femmes."  The  Prussian  Academy  has  recently  published  (Feb.,  1911),  a  further 
article  by  Zimmer,  "  Der  kulturhistorischo  Hintergrund  in  der  altirischen  Heldensage," 
which  elaborates  that  scholar's  views;  on  this,  in  turn,  consult  Revue  celtique,  XXXII 
(1911),  232  ff. 

306 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  17 

Turning  now  to  Irish  literature,  we  find  that  Conchobar  is  com- 
monly known  by  his  matronymic  alone,  as  Conchobar  mac  Nessa.^ 
This  fact  Nutt  has  discussed  in  an  interesting  manner  in  his  treat- 
ment of  the  supernatural  birth.^  "He  [Conchobar]  was  the  son  of  a 
god  who  incarnated  himself  in  the  same  way  as  did  Lug  and  Etain; 
this  is  probably  the  oldest  form,  and  it  may  be  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  father's  name  was  unknown  that  Conchobar  is  usually  described 
by  the  matronymic  alone,"  Perhaps  the  case  is  more  correctly 
stated  by  saying,  that  here,  as  elsewhere  among  primitive  peoples 
(with  few  exceptions),  kinship  being  reckoned  through  the  mother, 
the  question  of  paternity,  i.e.,  actual  paternity,  was  little  regarded, 
except  that  a  great  hero  must  naturally  have  sprung  from  a  father  of 
illustrious  rank.  Hence  the  motherhood  is  fixed  while  the  fatherhood 
varies;  and  supernatural  birth  occurs  most  commonly  where  the 
principle  of  matriarchy  prevails.^ 

This  fact  is  quite  evident  in  the  birth-story  of  Conall  Cernach — 
the  primitive  character  of  which  is  obvious.  In  the  Coir  Anmann* 
we  read : 

When  his  mother's  brother,  Get  Magach,  heard  that  his  sister  would  bear 
a  child  that  should  slay  more  than  half  the  men  of  Connaught,  he  continued 

protecting  his  sister  until  she  should  bring  forth  her  boy Druids 

came  to  baptize  the  child  into  heathenism,  and  they  sang  the  heathen 
baptism  over  the  httle  child,  and  they  said:  "  Never  shall  be  born  a  boy  more 
impious  than  this  one  toward  the  men  of  Connaught  [his  mother's  kin] ;  not 
a  night  shall  he  be  without  a  Connaughtman's  head  on  his  belt."  Then  Get 
drew  the  Uttle  child  towards  him,  and  put  it  under  his  heel  and  bruised  its 
neck,  but  did  not  break  its  spinal  marrow.  Whereupon  its  mother  exclaims 
to  Get:    "Wolfish  [conda]  is  the  treachery  [fell]  thou  workest,  0  brother!" 

1  D'Arbois,  Cours  de  litt.  celt.,  V,  4  fif.  (transl.  by  Dottin);  Thurneysen,  Sagen  aus 
dem  alten  Irland,  63;  Kimo  Meyer,  Revue  celtique,  VI  (1885),  173.  So,  too.  Lug  is 
called  Lug  mac  Ethlenn  (the  name  of  his  mother),  cf.  Revue  celtique  XVI  (1895),  298. 

2  Nutt,  Voyage  of  Bran,  II,  72  flf. 

»  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  II,  283  ff.  H.  rejects  the  view  that  motherright  is  foimded  on  the 
uncertainty  of  paternity,  and  concludes  that  "whereas  motherright  was  foimded  on  the 
recognition  of  a  common  blood,  fatherright  was  traceable  to  social  and  economic  causes 
of  a  different  character,  that  no  assertion  of  a  common  blood  was  implied  in  fatherright, 
but  that  it  was  an  artificial  organization  formed  upon  the  analogy  of  the  organization  of 
motherright  which  it  supplanted."  I  am,  of  course,  unable  to  judge  the  extent  to  which 
Hartland's  views  may  be  accepted,  but  that  the  primitive  blood-tie,  and  all  that  the  term 
implies,  was  through  the  mother,  can  hardly  be  doubted. 

*  See  Whitley  Stokes,  Iriache  Texte,  III.  2  (Leipzig,  1897),  summary  by  Nutt,  op.  cit., 
II.  74. 

307 


18  William  A.  Nitze 

"True,"  saj^s  Cet,  "let  Conall  [Con-feall]  be  his  name  henceforward."     And 
he  gave  her  son  back  to  her.     Whence  he  is  called  wry-necked  Conall. 

Again,  Bres,'  the  son  of  Eri,  is  on  his  maternal  side  a  kinsman 
of  the  Tuatha  D6;  for  even  if  his  mother  is  both  the  wife  and  the 
sister  of  Elatha,  king  of  the  Fomorians,  she  and  Elatha  are  the  chil- 
dren of  Delbaeth,  a  king  of  the  Tuatha  De  Danaan;^  accordingly  the 
text^  speaks  of  her  as  "  a  woman  of  the  Tuath  De."  And  when  Nuada 
falls  ill,  we  find  Bres  succeeding  him.  "A  contention  as  to  the  sov- 
ranty  of  the  men  of  Ireland  arose  between  the  Tuath  D6  and  their 
women;  because  Nuada,  after  his  hand  had  been  stricken  off,  was 
disqualified  to  be  king.  They  said  it  would  be  fitter  for  them  (to 
bestow)  the  kingdom  on  Bres,  son  of  Elatha,  on  their  o^vn  adopted 
son;  and  that  giving  the  kingdom  to  him  would  bind  tho  alliance  of 
the  Fomorians  to  them."  But  Bres  maltreats  them  sorely  and  they 
depose  him.  Thereupon,  with  the  help  of  his  mother,  he  seeks  the 
aid  of  the  Fomorians.  And  thus  the  Battle  of  Moytura  is  brought 
about,  in  which  the  Tuatha  De  are  victorious. 

But  perhaps  the  most  notable  example  of  matrilinear  kinship 
in  Irish  is  the  bond  which  unites  Cuchulinn  to  Conchobar.  While 
what  seems  to  be  the  earliest  version  of  the  Cuchulinn  (birth)  story^ 
represents  the  great  Ulster  hero  as  a  rebirth  of  Lug,  the  constant 
feature  of  his  parentage  is  the  name  of  his  mother  Dechtire,  the  sister 
of  Conchobar — his  father  is  variously  stated  to  have  been  Lug,  or 
an  unknown  or  unnamed  god  of  Faery,  or  Conchobar  himself,  or 

>  See  "The  Second  Battle  of  Moytura"  tr.  by  W.  Stokes,  Rerue  celtique.  XII  (1891), 
57  fl. ;  also  the  comparison  D'Arbois  makes  between  Bres  and  Kronos,  op.  cil.,  II 
chap.  ix. 

'  See  D'Arbois.  Cours,  II,  182  (and  passim):  "Cette  parents  n'a  rien  qui  doive  nous 
surprendre.  Bress,  Fomore,  est  le  gendre  de  Dagde,  I'un  des  chefs  des  Tuatha  De  Danaan. 
Nous  avons  deja  vu  que  Lug,  un  autre  des  chefs  des  Tflatha  De  Danaan,  est  par  sa  m6re, 
petit-flis  de  Balar,  un  des  chefs  de  Fomor6.  De  m6me  Brian,  luchar  et  lucharba,  trois 
personnages  que  des  textes  appellent  les  trois  dieux  du  gfinie  au  de  Dana,  irt  d&i  Dana, 
tri  die  Danand,  c'est  5,  dire  les  trois  chefs  principaux  des  TQatha  De  Danaan,  sont  flls  du 
FomOrg  Bress,  et  c'est  seulement  par  leur  mere  Brigit,  fllle  de  Dagdfi,  qu'ils  appartien- 
nont  aux  TQatha  Dfi  Danaan."  Thus  Zeus,  son  of  Rhea,  mother  of  the  Olympians, 
combats  Kronos,  chief  of  the  Titans.  Cf.  further  analogues  in  Revue  celtique,  XXVIII 
(1907),  24  IT.  Manifestly  the  principle  of  succession  here  is  maternal,  and  TQatha  D6 
and  Fomori  are  thought  of  as  exogamous  tribes  intermarrying. 

"  Op.  cit.,  Gl. 

*  Windisch.  Irische  Texle,  I,  140.  143;  transl.  by  Duvan.  in  D'Arbois,  Coura,  V,  22  ff.; 
in  German  by  Thumeysen,  Sagen  aua  dem  alien  Irland,  58  fl. ;  summary  by  Nutt,  op.  cit., 
II,  chap,  xiv;  Modern  English  version  in  Lady  Gregory,  Cuchulain. 

308 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  19 

finally  the  Ulster  chief  Sualtam.^  When  Cuchulinn  is  about  to 
be  born,  the  men  of  Ulster  are  gathered  about  Dechtire.  They  fall 
asleep  and  when  they  awake  behold  a  little  child  having  features  of 
Conchobar.  Finnchoem,  Conchobar's  other  sister,  at  once  loves  the 
child  and  to  her  he  is  intrusted.  When  they  have  returned  to 
Emain,  Morann  speaks  this  judgment:  ''It  is  for  Conchobar  to  help 
the  child  to  a  good  name,  for  he  is  next  of  kin  to  him."^ 

According  to  the  Tain  bo  Cualnge^  Cuchulinn  was  brought  up 
in  the  house  of  his  mother  at  Mag  Muirthemne.  The  people  there 
tell  him  of  Conchobar's  court  at  Emain  Macha  and  of  the  games 
that  go  on  there  among  the  noble  youths.  He  longs  to  go  to  the  court 
but  his  mother  urges  him  to  wait  until  one  of  Conchobar's  warriors 
can  accompany  him:  "pour  te  proteger  contre  les  jeunes  gargons  ou 
te  venger  s'il  y  a  lieu."  He  persists  in  his  request,  and  as  she  tells 
hun  where  the  court  is — "le  mont  Fuad  est  entre  Emain  et  toi" — 
he  sets  forth  to  j&nd  it,  taking  with  him  "his  hurling  stick,^  his  silver 
ball  and  his  little  dart  and  spear,"  with  which  he  shortens  his  journey. 

Arriving  on  the  plain  of  Emain  he  finds  "three  fifties"  (cent 
cinquante)  of  noble  youths  playing  games.  He  goes  among  them 
and  with  both  feet  hurls  his  ball  beyond  the  goal  at  which  the  youths 
are  aiming.  This  enrages  them  and  led  by  Conchobar's  son,  Folio- 
man,  they  try  to  kill  him.     But  he  defends  himself  skilfully — "il 

1  See  Nutt's  discussion,  loc.  cit.  The  son  of  a  brottier  and  sister  is  common  in 
mythology.  Thus  in  the  Norse  Wolsimg  story  Sinf joth  is  the  son  of  Sigmimd  and  Signy 
(cf.  G.  Holz,  Der  Sagenkreis  der  Nibelunge,  15 — a  trait  which  Wagner  employs  in  the 
Walkure);  in  Egypt,  Horus  is  the  son  of  Osiris  and  Isis  {Book  of  the  Dead,  tr.  Budge, 
passim), in  Greece  Zeus  springs  from  Kronos  and  Rhea  (Hesiod  Theog.  475),  Virgil  {Aen. 
I,  46)  says  of  Juno:  Jovisque  et  soror  et  coniux;  etc.  Tliis  reafllrms  the  idea  of  the 
Rebirth,  and  insures  the  perpetuation  of  the  divine  race  in  a  pure  form.  But  even  so 
the  son  may  still  take  up  arms  against  his  father.  A  survival  of  this  trait  is  the  Huth 
Merlin  (I,  147)  account  of  how  Arthur  becomes  the  father  of  Mordred:    "Mais  quoi 

que  elle  fust  sa  suer,  [si]  n'en  savoit  elle  riens Moult  fist  li  rois  Artus  grant  joie  de 

la  dame  et  moult  le  festia  et  li  et  ses  enfans  ....  en  chelui  terme  il  gut  a  li  et  engendra 
en  li  Mordrec,  par  cui  tant  grant  mal  furent  fait  en  la  terre  de  Logres  et  en  tout  U  monde." 
Cf.  also  Malory.  I,  64-65.  On  the  parallehsm  between  Mo[r]dred  and  Mider  see  Rhys, 
Arthurian  Legend,  38  flf. 

2  Lady  Gregory,  op.  cit.,  6;  Thirmeysen,  op.  cit.,  62:  "Conchobar  stehe  es  zu,  ihn 
den  Erziehem  zu  ubergeben,  weil  er  Dechtires  ndchster  Verwandter  ist."  In  general,  it 
was  the  Irish  custom  not  to  bring  up  children  beneath  the  paternal  roof.  Cf.  Henderson, 
Survivals  of  belief  among  the  Celts  (Glasgow,  1911),  pp.  36ff. 

'  Ed.  by  Windisch  from  the  Book  of  Leinster;  for  the  synopsis  I  have  made  see 
D'Arbois'  translation  in  the  Rexue  celtique,  XXVIII  (1907),  241  ff. 

*  "Son  baton  courbe  de  bronze,  sa  boule  d'argent,  son  javelot,  son  baton  brtll§  au 
gros  bout." 

309 


20  William  A.  Nitze 

fit  des  contorsions  .  .  .  .  il  ferma  un  de  ses  yeux  qui  ne  fut  pas 
plus  large  que  le  trou  d'une  aiguille,  il  ouvrit  I'autre  qui  devint  plus 
grand  qu'une  coupe  d'hydromel.     II  ^carta  telleraent  les  machoires 

que  sa  bouche  atteignit  les  oreilles Du  sommet  de  sa  tdte 

jaillit  la  lumiere  qui  atteste  le  h^ros."*  Then  he  takes  the  offensive 
and  overthrows  fifty  of  the  youths,  five  of  whom  fall  between  Fergus 
and  Conehobar  where  they  are  playing  chess.  When  the  young 
hero  comes  within  reach,  Conehobar  seizes  him  by  the  arm. 

When  Conehobar  taunts  him  for  his  "rudeness,"  the  boy  replies: 
"I  came  as  a  stranger,  and  I  did  not  get  a  stranger's  welcome." 
"Who  are  you?"  says  Conehobar.  "I  am  the  little  Setanta,  son 
of  Sualtam  and  of  Dechtire,  your  sister,"  says  the  boy.  Conehobar 
then  informs  him  that  there  is  a  "taboo"  {magique  defense)  against 
playing  with  the  royal  youths  without  their  permission.  So  Con- 
ehobar obtains  the  permission  for  him,  and  he  being  the  stronger, 
the  royal  youths  are  henceforth  placed  under  his  protection.^ 

Another  instance  of  the  same  motif  of  a  hero  seeking  the  protec- 
tion of  an  uncle's  court  is  the  Welsh  tale  of  Kulhwch  and  Olwen. 
This  story  is  probably  independent  of  Crestien's  influence,  even  if 
we  grant  Loth's  contention^  that  some  of  its  characters  are  "frott^s 
de  civilisation  frangaise." 

Here  the  young  Kulhwch,  who  is  the  son  of  Arthur's  mother's 
sister,  Goleuddydd,  is  left  to  the  care  of  his  nurse,  whereas  his  mother, 
who  dies  as  the  result  of  his  birth,  instructs  his  father  not  to  marry 
until  he  sees^  a  "briar  with  two  blossoms  on  her  grave."  At  the 
same  time  she  tells  her  "preceptor"  not  to  allow  anything  to  grow 
on  it. 

»  From  the  Book  of  the  Dun  Cow,  59,  col.  1.  42-43,  according  to  D'Arbois. 

'  Lady  Gregory  (p.  8)  has  somewhat  rearranged  the  dialogue  to  read:  " '  You  did  not 
know  then,'  said  Conchubar,  '  that  no  one  can  play  among  the  boy  troop  of  Emain  unless 
ho  gets  their  leave  and  their  protection."  '  I  did  not  know  that,  or  I  would  have  asked  it 
of  them,'  he  said.  'What  is  your  name  and  yoiu-  family  7'  said  Conchubar.  'My  name 
is  Setanta,  .son  of  Sualtim  and  Dechtire,"  he  said.  When  Conchubar  knew  that  he  was 
his  sister's  son,  he  gave  him  a  great  welcome,  and  he  bade  the  boy  troop  to  let  him  go 
safe  among  them."" 

'  See  Les  Mabinogion,  I,  16,  18.5;  contrast  I.  B.  John,  The  Mabinogion,  Nutt"s  Pop. 
Series  (1901),  p.  3,  who  says  that  the  tale  has  "no  affinity  with  any  of  the  Arthurian 
romances  handed  down  to  us  in  French  or  German." 

*  Her  words  are,  lx)th,  188:  "Ce  serait  cependant  mal  h  toi  de  rulner  ton  flls;  aussi 
Je  te  demande  de  ne  pas  te  remarier,  que  tu  n'ales  vu  une  ronce  &  deux  tfites  sur  ma 
tombe." 

310 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  21 

In  the  seventh  year  thereafter  the  "preceptor"  having  failed  in 
his  duty,  the  king  remarries.  One  day  the  new  wife  learns  from  a 
"sorceress"  that  the  king  has  a  son.  The  boy  is  sent  for,  and  the 
queen  tells  him  about  Olwen,  the  daughter  of  Yspaddaden  Penkawr, 
whom  Kulhwch  accordingly  craves.  Then  his  father  advises  him: 
"Arthur  is  thy  cousin.  Go,  therefore  unto  Arthur,  to  cut  thy  hair,^ 
and  ask  this  of  him  as  a  boon." 

So  Kulhwch  fares  forth;  in  his  hands  are  two  spears  of  silver,  a 
gold-hilted  sword  is  on  his  thigh,  and  his  horn  is  of  ivory.  Before 
his  steed  go  two  white-breasted  greyhounds:  the  one  on  the  left 
bounds  across  to  the  right  side,  and  the  one  on  the  right  across  to 
the  left  side.  The  porter  at  Arthur's  palace  tries  to  dissuade  him 
from  entering,  for  "the  knife  is  in  the  meat,  and  drink  is  in  the  horn, 
and  there  is  revelry  in  Arthur's  hall. "-  But  Kulhwch  threatens  to 
bring  disgrace  upon  Arthur  and  to  set  up  three  shouts  which  will 
deprive  women  of  their  offspring  and  make  them  barren,  unless  he 
is  allowed  to  enter.     So  the  porter  obtains  permission  of  Arthur. 

Then  Kulhwch,  contrary  to  custom,^  does  not  dismount,  but 
seated  on  his  charger  rides  into  the  hall  and  greets  the  king.  He 
comes  not  to  eat,  he  says,  but  to  ask  a  boon;  and  if  it  is  not  granted, 
he  vnW  carry  Arthur's  dispraise  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  world. 
Except  for  certain  reservations^  Arthur  is  ready  to  grant  this  request. 
Kulhwch  then  asks  Arthur  to  "bless  his  hair."  Whereupon  Arthur 
inquires  who  he  is :  "For  my  heart  warms  unto  thee,  and  I  know  thou 
art  come  of  my  blood."     When  Kulhwch  reveals  his  parentage, 

1  This  is  one  of  the  customs  which  Van  Gennep  classes  among  the  rites  de  separation, 
prevalent  in  primitive  societies.  See  Rites  de  passages,  103  flf.  Cf.  also  Loth,  I,  190, 
note;  Lady  Guest,  Les  Mahinogiorv,  260;  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  I,  197  note;  Keating,  History 
of  Ireland,  II,  173-175. 

2  See  Conte  del  Graal,  vss.  2785  ff.  for  a  passage  where  Arthur  will  not  eat,  "tantqu'a 
ma  cort  novele  viegne."  See  references  to  this  custom  mentioned  by  Hertz,  Parz.*, 
512;  also  Hist.  litt..  XXX,  349.  Professor  Kittredge,  "Arthur  and  Gorlagon"(  Harvard 
Studies,  VIII),  210,  note,  calls  attention  to  the  Irish  parallel  in  the  shorter  Fled  Bri- 
crend  (Windisch,  Ir.  Texte,  II,  i,  174,  188):  "It  is  not  fitting  to  consume  this  feast  of  mine 
without  a  brave  deed  of  the  Ulstermen  in  return  for  it." 

3  Loth,  op.  cit.,  I,  199;  Lady  Guest,  211;  cf.  Conte  del  Graal,  vs.  882:  E  li  vaslez  autre 
a  cheval  An  la  sale.  Consult  Kittredge,  op.  cit.,  for  this  commonplace  of  Arthurian 
romance. 

<  One  of  these,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  is  Guenevere  (Gwenhwy^'ar).  Compare  the 
abduction  motive  in  the  Lancelot  story;  cf.  also  the  Welsh  Pwyll,  Loth,  I,  45  fif.,  and 
elsewhere.     Zimmer  {Prussian  Academy,  1911,  p.  177)  equates  Guenevere  with  the  Irish 

Findabair. 

311 


22  >  William  A.  Nitze 

Arthur  says:  "That  is  true;  thou  art  my  cousin."  "Whatsoever 
boon  thou  mayest  ask,  thou  shalt  receive,  be  it  what  it  may  be  that 
thy  tongue  shall  name."^ 

The  occurrence  of  the  sister's  son  in  the  French  romances  was 
mentioned  alike  by  Professor  Gummere'  and  Mr.  M.  A.  Potter.' 
Further,  and  no  less  striking,  material,  however,  is  at  hand.  For 
example,  Tristan  is  Mark's  sister's  son — a  fact  which  may  throw  light 
on  the  moral  issue  arising  when  Tristan  yields  to  the  charms  of  Isolt. 
As  Bddier  has  observed,  the  Welsh  law  dealt  lightly  with  the  crime 
of  adultery.''  Yet  Tristan  is  not,  like  Modred,  a  vile  seducer — he 
does  not  abduct  the  queen.  "Jamais  Iseut  ne  songe  a  quitter  le 
roi  Marc,  ni  Tristan  a  la  ravir."^  "II  ne  renie  pas  institution 
sociale,  il  la  respecte  au  contraire,  il  en  souffre  et  seule,  cette 
souff ranee  confere  a  ses  actes  la  beauts."  But,  Bedier  continues:^ 
"II  repugne  a  tout  ce  que  nous  savons  des  contes  de  Bretagne  et  de 
leur  transmission  de  supposer  que  les  Celtes  aient  possede  jamais 
un  grand  roman  d 'amour  sur  Tristan."  The  fatalistic  love-theme, 
however,  is  by  no  means  foreign  to  the  Celts:  witness,  for  example, 
the  Fate  of  the  Sons  of  Usnech.''  And  it  is  not  only  possible  but 
probable  that  Tristan's  conduct  is  influenced  by  the  fact  that  he 
remains  conscious  of  his  intimate  kinship  to  the  king.  As  Bedier 
himself  saj^s:  "II  est  le  neveu  et  le  fils  adoptif  du  roi  Marc  :  il  ne 
conteste  pas  la  loi  de  la  reconnaissance,  il  la  viole,  et  souffre  de  la 
violer."^  The  B^roul  version  is  too  fragmentary  to  throw  much 
light  on  the  question.  Yet  in  Tristan's  repentance  the  true  situation 
becomes  apparent : 

"Dex!  tant  m'amast  mes  oncles  chiers, 
Se  tant  ne  fus[s]e  a  lui  mesfet!"      (Vss.  2170-2171.) 

»  Loth.  op.  cit.,  cites  (p.  191)  a  striking  example  of  tlie  hair-cutting  ceremony  from  the 
story  of  Vortigem  (cf.  Nennius).  "Guortigern,"  he  says,  "ayant  eu  un  flls  de  sa  fllle,  la 
poussa  a  allor  porter  I'enfant  Sl  Germain,  I'Cvfique,  en  disant  qui!  etait  son  pSre.  Germain 
dit  h,  I'enfant:  'Pater  tibi  ero,  nee  te  permittam  ntKi  7nihi  novacula  cum  forcipe  et  pecline 
delur,  el  ad  patrem  tuum  carnalem  tibi  dare  liceal.'  L'enfant  va  droit  a  Guortigern,  et  lul 
dit:  'Pater  meus  ea  tu,  caput  meum  tonde,  et  comam  capitis  mei  pecte."'     See  above,  p.  21. 

'  Op.  cit.  '  Sohrab  and  Rustem,  193  ft. 

*  Roman  de  Tristan,  II,  163:  "Le  trait  le  plus  singulier  de  la  vie  celtique,  c'cst  la 
fragility  du  lien  conjugal." 

'  Op.  cit.,  165.  •  P.  167. 

'  Windlsch,  Ir.  Texte  (first  series),  67-82;  D'Arbois,  Cour  de  litt.  celt.,  V,  236-86; 
Stokes,  Ir.  Texte,  II,  2,  109-78;   Dottin,  Revue  celt.,  XVI  (1895),  426. 

»  P.  166. 

312 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  23 

"A  Deu,  qui  est  sire  du  mont, 
Cri  je  merci,  que  il  me  don(s)t 
Itel  corage  que  je  lais 
A  mon  oncle  sa  feme  en  pais."        (Vss.  2185-2188.) 

Tristan  s'apuie  sur  son  arc : 

Sovent  regrete  le  roi  Marc, 

Son  oncle,  qui  a  fait  tel  tort, 

Sa  feme  mise  a  tel  descort.  (Vss.  2195-2198.) 

And  in  Thomas  the  trait  appears  clearly  in  the  birth-story 
which  the  Anglo-Norman  poet  has  prefixed^  to  his  version.  Here 
Blanchefleur^  says  to  the  loyal  Foitenant:  "Je  vous  confie  I'enfant 
qui  va  naitre  de  moi.  Si  vous  avez  aime  mon  seigneur  Rivalin,  en 
souvenir  de  I'amour  qu'il  vous  portait,  prenez-  le  comme  votre  propre 
enfant  en  votre  protection.  Gardez  cet  anneau;  mon  pere  I'avait 
donne  au  roi  Marke;  le  roi  me  I'avait  donne;  s'il  le  revoit  un  jour,  il 
reconnaitra  I'enfant  ne  de  sa  soeur."^ 

Again,  while  Layamon  insists  that  what  makes  Conan,  the 
murderer  of  Constantine  in  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  such  an 
"accursed"  villain'*  is  his  being  Constantine's  sister's  son,  and  that 
for  a  like  reason  Mordred's  betrayal  of  Arthur's  confidence  has  no 
redeeming  quality,  we  find  Wace^  already  denouncing  Mordred's 
crime  in  these  words: 

"Oi^s  quel  honte  e  quel  vilte: 
Ses  nies,  fils  sa  soror  estoit." 

Of  course  Gawain  is  the  exemplar  of  the  type  in  its  highest  sense. 
Thus  it  is  with  clear  intent  that  Crestien  makes  Cliges  the  sister's 
son  of  Arthur's  loyal  nephew.  And  in  Wauchier's  continuation  of  the 
Conte  del  Graal,^  Gawain's  own  off-spring  while  ignorant  of  his  father's 
name  has  the  striking  appellation  of  le  neveu  son  oncle.''  It  is,  as  I 
said  above,  the  prerogative  of  the  nephew  to  guard  the  honor,  and 
therefore  to  avenge  the  shame   (honte)  of  the  uncle,  whereas  the 

»  Cf.  W.  Golther,   Tristan  u.  Isolde,  145. 
Bedier,  op.  oil.,  I,  23. 

Cf.  also  pp.  60-61,  where  Marke  recognizes  Tristan  and  knights  him:   "II  appelle 
lui  Tristan  par  de  douces  paroles  et  I'embrasse  tendrement  comme  son  fils  d'adoption 
et  son  neveu.    On  the  moral  question  in  the  Tristan,  see  J.  Loth,  Revue  celt.,  XXX  (1909), 
270-82. 

*  Gummere,  op.  cit.  139  «  Pot.,  vss.  20,671  ff. 

«  Brut,  vss.  13,422-13.423.  '  Mentioned  by  Potter,  op.  cit..  49. 

313 


24  William  A.  Nitze 

latter  affords  the  former  his  protection  and  assistance.  This 
mutual  obligation  is  characteristic  of  Gawain,  Perceval/  Clig^s, 
Roland,  etc.  According  to  Crestien,  Yvain's  expedition  to  the 
fountain  is  motived  by  a  similar  consideration  •? 

"Par  mon  chief,"  dist  mes  sire  Yvains, 
"Vos  estes  mes  cosins  ger mains, 

Si  nos  devons  mout  antramer; 

Mes  de  ce  vos  puis  fol  clamer. 

Quant  vos  le  m'avez  tant  cel6. 

Se  je  vos  ai  fol  apel^, 

Je  vos  pri  qu'il  ne  vos  an  poist; 

Car  se  je  puis  et  il  me  loist, 

J'irai  vostre  honte  vangier." 

Thus,  too,  AioP  is  told  by  his  ot\ti  father  of  his  claims  on  the 
Emperor  Louis. 

"Car  vous  estes  li  nies  I'empereour, 
le  sai  bien  a  fiance,  fiex  sa  serour." 

Probably  nowhere,  however,  do  we  find  the  strength  of  this  tie 
more  clearly  brought  out  than  in  Partonopeus  de  Bids — here  the 
hero  is  nephew  to  Clovis : 

Un  sien  neveu  avoit  li  rois, 

Cuens  fu  d'Angieus  et  cuens  de  Blois; 

Fils  ert  Lucrece  sa  seror, 

Li  rois  I'amoit  de  tel  amor 

Qv£  nis  son  fil  de  sa  moillier 

N'avoit  il  de  nient  plus  chier* 

Further  examples  can  certainly  be  found,  especially  if  we  go 
outside  our  field  into  that  of  the  epic  and  ballad.  The  Roland  is 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  kinship  on  the  maternal  side,^  and  to  mention 

'  The  trait  is  well  brought  out  in  the  Goon  Desert  (Partinel)  episode  of  Manessler, 
see  Pot.  V,  vss.  34.935  ff. 
»  Yvain,  vss.  581-89. 
'  Aiol,  ed.  Foerster,  vss.  190-91. 
*  Ed.  Crapelet,  I,  19. 

»  Richard  le  Vicill  e  sun  nevuld  Henri.     (Vs.  171.) 
Tedbald  de  Reins  e  Milun  sun  cusin.     (Vs.  173.) 
"Ensurquotut  si  ai  jo  vostre  socr 
Si'n  ai  un  fllz,  ja  plus  bels  n'en  estoet: 


Guardez  le  bion."      (Vss.  294-298.) 
"Tenez,  bels  sire,"  dlst  Rollanz  il  sun  uncle, 
"De  trestuz  reis  vus  present  les  curunes."     (Vss.  387-389.) 

314 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  25 

one  further  striking  instance,'  Raoul  de  Cambrai  is  the  sister's  son  of 
Louis.  But  the  above  examples  are  sufficient  to  show  what  a  hold 
the  matrilinear  descent  had  on  the  minds  of  men  in  the  twelfth 
century,  at  least  as  a  matter  of  tradition.  We  have  seen,  too,  that 
the  tribal  organization  it  represents  must  once  have  been  known  to 
the  Goedelic  (and  Brythonic)  Celts,  for  survivals  of  the  system  appear 
in  their  laws  and  in  the  main  body  of  their  heroic  legend.  As  has 
been  previously  shown,^  it  is  with  this  legend  that  the  Conte  del 
Graal  has  evident  points  of  contact. 

IV 

Reverting  to  the  poem  proper,  it  is  noteworthy  that,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  Gawain  section,  the  entire  work  seems 
to  bear  the  imprint  of  the  primitive,  tribal  life.  The  advances 
that  Blanchefleur  makes  to  Perceval,  which  Nutt  sought  to  explain 
in  the  light  of  Minnedienst,^  are  referable  rather  to  a  cruder  state 
of  society  in  which  the  wooing  quite  naturally  fell  to  the  part  of 
woman.  As  Nutt  himself  says:  " In  the  great  tragic  tale  of  ancient 
Ireland,  ....  Deirdre  takes  fate  into  her  own  hands,  and  wooes 

"L'altre  meitiet  avrat  Rollanz  ses  nies."     (Vs.  473.) 
E  I'Algalifes  sis  uncles  e  sis  fedeilz.     (Vs.  505.) 
As  porz  d'Espaigne  ad  laissiet  sun  nevuld. 
Pitiet  Ten  prent,  ne  poet  muer  n'en  plurt.      (Vss.  824-825.) 

Marsile  also  has  a  nephew : 

"Bels  sire  reis,  jo  vus  ai  seroit  tant 
Si'n  ai  oiit  a  peines  e  ahans."     (Vss.  863-864.) 

£0  est  Gualtiers  Id  cunquist  Maelgut, 
i  nies  DroUn,  a  I'vieill  e  a  I'canut.     (Vss.  2047-2048.) 
"Rollanz  mis  nies  hoi  cest  jur  nus  defalt."      (Vs.  2107.) 
"Se  j'ai  parenz,  nen  i  ad  nul  si  prud."      (Vs.  2905.) 
The  Oxford  text  does  not  mention  the  name  of  Roland's  mother.     But  it  probably 
was  Gisle  or  Gille  (cf.  G.  Paris,  Histoire  poetique,  407).     The  pseudo-Turpin  calls  her 
Berte,  and  the  same  name  occurs  in  Philippe  Mousket  (vss.  2706  fl.): 

S'ot  Charles  ime  autre  sereur 
Bertain:  cele  prist  a  seigneur 
Milan  d' Anglers,  s'en  ot  Rollant. 

For  an  "Enfance"  story,  in  which  the  boy  Roland  seizes  the  goblet  of  Charles,  cf. 
the  Venice  MS  XIII  and  the  Reali  di  Francia  (G.  Paris,  op.  cit..  409  ff.).  In  certain 
versions,  notably  the  Karlamagnus-Saga  (I,  36),  Roland  is  the  son  of  Charles  and  the 
latter's  sister  Gille.  Cf.  above  p.  18,  for  other  examples  of  this  motif.  On  the  episode 
itself,  see  G.  Paris,  op.  cit.,  chap.  viii.  In  Spanish  literature,  Bernardo  del  Carpio  was 
considered  a  sister's  son  of  Charlemagne,  later  of  Alfonso  II;  see  Baist,  Grober's  Grund., 
II,  2,  392. 

1  Garin  le  Loherain,  tr.  Paulin  Paris,  p.  333. 

2  Cf.  Zimmer,  Gdtt.  gel.  Anzeigen  (1890),  XII,  519  flf.;  Keltische  Studien,  Berlin,  1884, 
II,  200;    also  articles  cited  above. 

'  Studies  on  the  Legend  of  the  H.  Grail,  228  fl. 

315 


26  William  A.  Nitze 

Noisi  with  outspoken  passionate  frankness."  Doubtless  the  situation 
is  romantic,  and  that  may  account  for  its  late  persistence,  but 
the  Fands,  Viviens,  and  Orgueilleuses — to  some  extent — have 
counterparts  among  primitive  peoples  today.'  The  manner  in 
which  Lancelot  becomes  the  father  of  Galaad  in  the  Prose  Lancelot 
cycle  is  a  curious  survival  of  this  time-old  custom.^  Moreover,  the 
matriarchal  idea  is  typical  of  the  grail  romances.  "Das  ist  das 
Wesentliche,"  says  Brugger,^  "das  den  Joseph  (und  den  Didot-Perceval) 
isoliert :  dass  der  Gralheld  hier  vaterlichseits,  in  alien  andern  Versionen 
miitterlichseits  mit  dem  Gralhiiter  verwandt  ist."  The  Syr  Percy velle, 
which  lacks  the  grail  adventure,  retains  this  arrangement.  Here  the 
hero's  mother  (Acheflour)  is  the  sister  of  King  Arthur,  and  not  of 
the  Grail  King.  A  priori  this  appears  to  be  a  substitution,  since 
Arthur's  traditional  nephews  are  of  course  Gawain*  and  Ivlordred,  and 
the  names  in  Syr  Percy  velle  are  French  and  not  Welsh.  The  very 
instructions  the  hero  receives  from  time  to  time,  such  as:^  (1)  to 
respect  the  advice  of  elders;  (2)  to  succor  women  in  distress;  (3)  to 
greet  cordially  those  he  meets;  (4)  to  refrain  from  useless  speech; 
though  probably  determined  as  to  form  by  the  mediaeval  school 
learning  and  by  their  connection  with  chivalry  (to  which  the  poem 
alludes^),  are  characteristic  of  the  tribal  life  as  observed  elsewhere. 
Thus  Howatt  affirms  that  among  the  southeastern  Australians, 
before  the  conclusion  of  the  initiation  ceremonies  (Kuringal),  the 

I  "The  practice,"  says  Hartland,  "of  offering  the  wife  or  other  female  dependent  to  a 
guest  for  temporary  companionship"  is  very  widespread  among  various  American  tribes 
{op.  cit.,  II,  229).  Cf.  also  Karl  Schmidt,  Jus  Primae  Noctis,  Freiburg,  1881,  passim. 
On  women  themselves  making  the  advances,  see  Hartland,  op.  cit.,  II,  129  IT.,  also  the 
examples  gathered  by  Potter,  op.  cit.,  172  ff.,  and  Zimmer,  "Der  kulturhlstorische 
Hintergrund  in  der  altirischen  Heldensage,"  Prussian  Academy,  1911,  pp.  175  11.  In 
Raoul  de  Cambrai  Bemier  Is  wooed  by  Gerin's  daughter  (vs.  5696): 

"  Pren  moi  a  feme,  frans  chevaliers  eslis: 
Si  demorra  nostre  guere  5,  toz  dis." 

See  Hertz,  Parz.',  502,  on  the  TobiasnadUe  in  Parz.,  §  203. 

»  PauUn  Paris.  Romans  d.  I.  table  ronde,  V,  306  ff.  '  ZffS.,  XXXVI  (1910).  18. 

*  Among  other  examples  that  can  l>e  cited,  Crestien's  Erec  contains  a  clear  instance 
of  the  reliance  Arthur  placed  on  Gawain: 

"Biaus  niCs  Gauvains!  conselliez  m'an 
Sauve  m'  enor  et  ma  droiture! 
Car  jo  n'ai  de  la  noise  cure."     (Vss.  308-310.) 

A  recent  attempt  to  prove  the  primitive  character  of  the  Syr  Percytelle  has  been  made 
by  R.  H.  Griffith,  Sir  Perceval  of  Galles  (University  of  Chicago  diss.),  1911. 

*  See  vss.  510.  1610,  6360  ff. 

*  Vs.  1612.  The  instructions  given  by  Gomemanz,  vss.  1610  ff.,  should  be  compared 
with  those  found  in  the  Ordene  de  Chetalerie,  printed  by  M6on,  Fab.,  I,  59  ff. 

316 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  27 

youth  is  not  invested  with  the  man's  belt  until  he  has  been  told: 
(1)  to  heed  the  advice  of  the  old  men;  (2)  to  share  the  fruits  of  the 
chase  with  others;  (3)  not  to  interfere  with  the  women  of  the  tribe; 
(4)  not  to  injure  his  kindred  by  means  of  evil  magic.^  "  The  intention 
of  the  ceremonies,"  continues  Howitt,  "is  evidently  to  make  the 
youths  of  the  tribe  worthy  members  of  the  community,  according  to 

their  lights Before  the  novice  is  permitted  to  take  his  place 

in  the  community,  marry,  and  join  in  its  councils,  he  must  possess 
those  qualifications  which  will  enable  him  to  act  for  the  common 
welfare."  Gillen  and  Spencer  writing^  of  the  central  Australians 
observe  that  in  the  initiations  of  the  natives  along  the  Finke  River 
there  is  fastened  around  the  initiate's  waist  a  large  uliara,  "that  is, 
the  human  hair  girdle  worn  by  the  men,  the  girdle  being  provided  by 
an  Oknia  of  the  boy."  Previously  an  Unkulla  man  had  twined  round 
the  youth's  hair  "strands  of  fur  string,  until  it  looked  as  if  his  head 
were  enclosed  in  a  tight-fitting  skull  cap."  The  Unkulla  man  is 
"the  brother  of  the  boy's  mother,"  and  the  fastener  of  the  girdle 
is  the  latter's  son.  During  the  ceremonies  which  follow  the  boy  is 
told  that  he  must  be  obedient,  must  never  reveal  any  of  the  tribal 
secrets,  must  not  speak  unless  spoken  to.  The  final  rites  are  "a  long 
series  of  ceremonies  concerned  with  the  totems,  and  terminating 
with  what  may  be  described  as  ordeals  by  fire."  The  object  of  the 
ceremony  as  a  whole  is,  "firstly,  to  bring  the  young  men  under  the 
control  of  the  old  men  .  .  .  .  ;  secondly,  to  teach  them  habits  of 
self-restraint  and  hardihood;  and  thirdly,  to  show  the  younger  men 
who  have  arrived  at  mature  age,  the  sacred  secrets  of  the  tribe  which 
are  concerned  with  the  Churinga^  and  the  totems  with  which  they 
are  associated."  "Every  Australian  native,"  they  affirm,  "so  far 
as  is  known,  has  in  the  normal  condition  of  the  tribe  to  pass  through 
certain  ceremonies  of  initiation  before  he  is  admitted  to  the  secrets  of 
the  tribe,  and  is  regarded  as  a  fully  developed  member  of  it."  This 
shows,  especially  when  taken  together  with  my  previous  remarks 
on  the  Eleusinia,*  what  a  close  connection  there  is  between  Perceval's 
entire  career  and  the  ceremony  at  the  Grail  Castle,  if  the  latter  is, 

1  Native  Tribes  of  South-East  Australia  (Macmillan,  1904),  pp.  231  ff. 
»  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia  (Macmillan,  1901),  pp.  210-86;   347-73. 
'  Sacred  emblems.  *  Op.  cit. 

317 


28  William  A.  Nitze 

as  I  believe,  an  initiation.  Obviously  Nutt  was  correct  in  affirming 
that  the  questing  initiate  was  always  a  part  of  the  grail  story:  the 
Perceval  and  the  grail  stories  are  essentially  one,  and  any  attempt 
to  separate  them  is,  I  believe,  a  mistake.  Not  that  the  initiate 
need  always  have  been  called  Perceval:  Crestien  may  well  have 
given  him  the  name,  which  he  first  mentions  in  Erec  (vs.  1526) — et 
Percevaus  li  Galois.  But  even  that  is  conjectural.^  The  essential 
fact,  however,  is  that  the  youth's  training  or  education  is  of  a  piece 
with  the  grail  adventure,  which  is,  as  we  have  seen,  its  culminating 
point.^  And  while  other  works  outside  the  Arthurian  pale,  and 
within  it,  deal  with  the  sister's  son  as  a  recognized  personage,  none 
of  them  treats,  as  does  Crestien's  work,  his  particular  problem,  per 
se,  as  characteristic  of  tribal  life. 

This  does  not  signify  that  Crestien  was  aware  of  the  fundamental 
import  of  the  story  he  was  "setting  to  rhyme."'  He  may  or  may  not 
have  been.  Probably  he  grasped  the  "  mystery  "  as  little  as  we  should 
today.  Being  a  problem  in  conduct,  the  story  would  appeal  at  once 
to  his  scholastic  temper.  But  let  us  not  be  misled  into  thinking  that 
he  was  primarily  bent  on  being  consistent  and  clear.  His  Erec  and 
Charrete  show  that  he  was  not.  As  Baist  says:  "Er  liebt  es,  seine 
Wunder  in  hellster  Beleuchtung  hervortreten,  aber  dann  verdam- 
mern  zu  lassen."  We  cannot  quarrel  with  him  for  doing  so — the 
grammarians  afforded  him  ample  justification  for  respecting  tradi- 
tion, even  when  it  was  not  understood — and  did  not  Marie  de  France* 
on  the  basis  of  Priscian  extol  the  ancients  for  being  obscure  ? 

Es  livres  que  jadis  faiseient 
assez  oscurement  diseient 
par  eels  ki  a  venir  esteient 
e  ki  aprandre  les  devcient 
que  peiissent  gloser  la  letre 
e  de  lur  sen  le  surplus  metre. 

»  Sco  below,  p.  31. 

»  Baist  (Parzival  u.  der  Oral),  19,  expresses  a  somewhat  similar  view,  though  without 
mentioning  the  initiatory  character  of  the  grail  ceremony,  when  he  says:  "Immerhin 
wlirde  mit  der  Natur  dieser  Resto  sich  die  Annahme  hesonders  gut  vertragen,  dass  in  der 
Vorlage  die  Weisheitslehren  in  viel  engerer  Beziehung  zur  Handlung  standen  als  bei 
Chrestien.  Dann  aber  wird  es  maglich,  dass  der  Oral  in  seiner  ersten  Gestalt  ohne  jede 
wundcrbareEigenschaft  war  und  nur  die  Kegel  exempliflzieren  half,  dass  unter  Umstanden 
auch  Reden  Gold  sei." 

»  Vs.  63 :   A  rimoier  le  meillor  conte. 

*  Lais,  ed.  Warnke,  Prol.,  vss.  11  ff. ;  the  passage  is  a  misconstruction  of  Priscian, 
7n«(.  (beginning). 

318 


The  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  29 

In  short,  Crestien  interpreted  his  material  as  far  as  he  was  able;  when 
unable,  he  reproduced  it  without  sacrificing  its  traditional  features. 

The  famous  grail-question  (Cui  Van  an  sert  ?  or  Quel  riche  home 
Van  an  servoit  f)  is,  I  believe,  such  a  feature.  The  riche  home  is  the 
Grail  King;  besides  if  asked,  the  question  will  heal  the  suffering 
Fisher  King,  and  when  not  asked,  it  actually  brings  harm  to  the 
knights  and  ladies  of  Arthur's  court.^  I  thus  explained  its  function^ 
as  ritualistic,  and  the  conclusions  reached  in  the  present  study  bear 
out  this  interpretation.  To  argue,  as  Heinzel  does,^  that  this  aspect 
of  the  ''question"  is  secondary,  seems  to  me  to  ignore  the  raison 
d^itre  of  the  whole  story.  Yet  those  who  derive  the  grail  legend  from 
the  Byzantine  Mass  must  resort  to  some  such  reasoning.  Admitting 
that  there  is  danger  here  for  considerable  mutual  misunderstanding 
and  that  it  behooves  us  to  keep  an  open  mind  on  such  intricate 
matters,  nevertheless  we  should  remember  that  the  grail  legend 
tends  toward,  and  not  away  from,  Christianity.  The  later  not  the 
earher  versions  are  the  most  Christian.  Says  Martin:^  "Stufen- 
weise  geht  die  Verchristlichung  weiter;  immer  starker  tritt  der 
mystisch-asketische  Zug  hervor,  bis  er  zuletzt  in  der  torichten 
Vorstellung  gipfelt,  dass  nicht  Perceval,  der,  wenn  auch  Mensch, 
doch  vermahlt  war,  sondern  der  vollig  jungfrauliche  Galaad  den 
Gralzauber  lost  und  zwar  nachdem  er  den  Gral  hat  suchen  miissen, 
obschon  er  selbst  im  Hause  des  Grals  aufgewachsen  ist."  Further- 
more, why  should  Robert,  whose  orthodoxy  is  not  his  strongest 
point,  nevertheless  distinguish  the  grail  ceremony  from  the  Christian 
mass?  ''Nicht  das  Messopfer,"  says  Heinzel,*  "aber  etwas  dem 
Messopfer  Aehnliches  stellt  sich  der  Dichter  vor."  Or  was  Robert 
honestly  actuated  by  the  desire  to  conform  to  Roman  usage  by 
rejecting  any  contamination  from  the  East?  Certainly,  the  Byzan- 
tine theory  must  be  at  a  loss  to  explain  that  Robert  himself  does  not 
so  much  as  mention  the  bleeding  lance.  Personally  I  cannot  conceive 
how  then  the  Byzantine  material  could  be  the  immediate  basis  of  the 
grail  romances  in  the  twelfth  century.  What  may  have  happened 
in  Ireland  at  an  earlier  date  is  another  question.  But  even  so, 
ritualism  is  so  general  among  primitive  societies,  that  the  assump- 

1  See,  above,  p.  5.  *  Parzival  u.  Tilurel,  II,  L. 

'  See  Elliott-Studies,  49.  *  Qp.  cit.,  87. 

»  Op.  cit.,  185. 

319 


30  William  A.  Nitze 

tion  of  eastern  borrowings  on  the  part  of  the  Celts  does  not  seem  to 
me  materially  to  alter  our  discussion.^  On  the  other  hand,  assuming 
as  we  do  that  Robert  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  Christianization 
of  the  grail  material,  it  requires  no  argument  to  see  that  having 
removed  the  grail  from  its  primitive  setting,  and  explained  it  ex  post 
facto  on  a  Christian  basis,  in  the  manner  somewhat  of  the  enfances 
of  an  epic  hero,  he  naturally  missed  the  central  motive  of  the  original 
grail  story,  represented  in  the  tribal  organization. 

If  then  the  "question"  is  primarily  ritualistic,  as  a  part  of  a 
pagan  ceremonial,  and  probably  involved  an  explanation  of  the  rite 
in  which  the  initiate  had  shared  (the  so-called  "secrets"  of  the  grail), 
it  was  instrumental  also  in  establishing  the  kinship,  the  "blood-tie," 
so  to  speak,  which  bound  the  neophyte  to  the  head  of  the  clan,  and 
made  him  a  recognized  member  of  the  social  group.  To  use  Heinzel's 
words  it  was  "eine  Erkennungsfrage,"  though  we  do  not  share 
Heinzel's  view  that  it  was  accidental  (zufdllig).  A  similar  procedure 
is  found  in  stories  of  the  father-and-son  combat  type.  In  Sohrab  and 
Rustem,  the  son  says  to  his  father:  " One  question  I  desire  to  ask  you, 
and  do  you  answer  that  truthfully.  Tell  me  frankly,  what  is  your 
birth?"  Likewise,  Hildebrand^  asks  his  son  "wer  sein  vater  waere 
in  der  menschen  volke,  'oder  welches  geschlechtes  kind  du  seist.'" 
Again,  we  found  Conchobar  saying  to  the  youthful  Cuchulinn: 
"What  is  your  name  and  your  family?"  In  this  way  the  question 
would  naturally  serve  as  a  method  of  identification,  as  a  recognition- 
formula.  This  has  long  been  observed  by  scholars.  Of  all  Arthurian 
stories,  that  of  the  grail  depends  most  on  the  principle  of  adequate 
identification.  How  will  the  hero  of  destiny  make  his  presence 
known  ?  Why,  by  a  question  he  will  ask.  Or,  if  for  some  reason,  this 
is  not  sufficient,  by  a  special  seat  which  he  will  occupy.  Thus  we 
get  the  Siege  Perilous,  so  similar,  as  I  have  pointed  out,'  to  the 
Irish  Lia  Fdil  or  Stone  of  Destiny,  which  like  the  lance  and  the  sword 
of  Lug,  and  the  Caldron  of  Dagda,  was  one  of  the  "four  jewels"  of 

'  On  syncretism,  frequently  overlooked  by  the  reviewers,  see  my  "Fisher  King."  See 
the  view  expressed  by  Klttredge,  Harvard  Studies  and  Notes,  VIII:  "  The  mere  fact  that 
a  story  is  oriental  in  its  ultimate  origin  is  no  reason  for  refusing  to  regard  it  as  Celtic  if 
it  once  made  its  home  among  the  Celts  and  came  from  them,  charged  with  their  peculiar 
genius,  to  fructify  the  literature  of  France  and  of  the  world." 

'  See  Das  midebrandslied,  ed.  AJ.  Vollmer  and  K.  Hofmann,  11. 

»  Ellioll- Studies,  42. 

320 


TpE  Sister's  Son  and  the  Conte  del  Graal  31 

the  Tuatha  De  Danaan,  and  therefore  the  most  accessible  prototype 
for  a  poet  dealing  with  the  grail.  In  at  least  one  of  the  grail 
romances,  however,  the  hero  establishes  his  identity  by  "opening" 
a  tomb,  the  top  of  which  rises  to  his  touch.  This  happens  in  the 
Perlesvaus,^  and  it  is  known  thereby  that  Perceval  is  the  son  of  the 
Veve  Dame  and  also  li  miaudres  chevaliers  del  monde. 

Now,  the  Cymric  hearth  was  the  symbol  of  family  ownership  and 
inheritance. 

The  right  of  the  son  on  succession  was  to  uncover  the  hearth  of  his  father 
or  ancestor.  The  legal  term  for  the  recovery  by  an  ejected  son  of  his  patri- 
mony was  dadenhudd,  or  the  uncovering  again  of  the  parental  hearth.  The 
term  was  a  graphic  one.  The  fire-back-stone,  set  up  against  the  central  pillar 
of  the  hut  supporting  the  roof  (pentow2;aen  =  head-fire-stone),  was  a  memorial 
or  witness  of  land  and  homestead  {tir  a  thyle),  because  it  bore  the  7nark  of  the 
kindred  upon  it.  And  the  covering  and  uncovering  of  the  fire  had  a  picturesque 
significance.^ 

It  took  four  generations  of  occupancy  to  establish  a  claim  to  a 
Welsh  family  hearth,  which  thus  became,  ''in  a  very  literal  sense,  the 
focus  of  the  rights  of  the  kindred."^  If,  then,  we  consider  that  m. 
Crestien,  where  the  tribal  concept  is  strongest,  the  grail  ceremony 
takes  place  about  the  central  fireplace  of  the  Grail  Castle,  and 
that  the  word  which  Crestien  uses,  cheminal,  probably  points  to  a 
primitive  hearthstone^  (Wolfram's  fiverrame  of  marble),  the  Welsh 
custom  is  doubly  interesting,  especially  as  a  ceremonial  fire  is  not  a 
phenomenon  confined  to  the  Welsh.  Still,  Crestien  does  not  give  us 
the  slightest  inkling  that  the  hearth  at  the  Grail  Castle  bore  the 
mark  of  the  kindred.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  after  his  visit  to  the 
Grail  Castle  that  Perceval  mysteriously  divines  his  real  name,*  and 
our  evidence  has  shown  that  ultimately  the  grail  ceremony  was 
the  means  of  instating  him  in  his  inheritance.  For  want  of  further 
material  we  must  leave  the  problem  at  this  pomt  without  coming  to 
a  fixed  conclusion.^ 

>  Pot.,  I,  179.  2  Seebohm,  op.  cit.,  82.  '  Ibid.,  83. 

*  Elliott- Studies,   I,  30  ff.  ^  See  above,  p.  28. 

'  The  problem  indicated  here  might  repay  further  investigation.  Note,  above  all,  what 
Van  Gennep  has  to  say  on  the  "rites  de  denomination  "  in  liis  Rites  de  passages,  pp.  88  ff.; 
also  chap,  vion  the  "rites  d'initiation,"  where  a  simmiary  is  made  of  the  various  initiations 
known  up  to  1909 — a  chapter  which  corroborates  our  conclusions  on  the  initiatory  char- 
acter of  the  grail  material.     On  names  the  following  points  may  be  noted  in  addition: 

In  the  Australian  Kuringal  ceremonies  (cf.  Howitt,  op.  cit.,  526-641)  among  the 
tilings  which  the  novice  leams  from  his  Kabosisthe  Budjon  or  totem  name.    "These 

321 


32  William  A.  Nitze 

But  the  material  adduced  has,  I  hope,  thrown  some  light  on  the 
means  by  which  the  tribal  hero  may  have  won  official  recognition. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  the  name  irarr^p  given  to  the  tribal 
god  in  the  ancient  mysteries  seems  to  me  paralleled  by  the  riche 
home  (the  Grail  King;  according  to  Nutt,  the  Mikado  of  the  myth), 
the  [Celtic]  tribal  ancestor,  the  religious  and  juridical  head  of  the 
clan,  the  maternal  uncle  of  the  sister's  son.  And,  taken  all  in  all, 
does  not  the  Conte  del  Graal,  even  after  the  adaptation  it  underwent 
to  meet  the  demands  of  twelfth-century  society,  still  furnish  an 
example,  more  primitive  than  anything  handed  down  elsewhere  in 
Arthurian  literature,  of  the  tribal  myth  in  the  sense  in  which  Van 
Gennep^  has  recently  defined  that  dubious  word  ? 

Si  [une]  ....  histoire  est  accompagn^e  d'une  pantomime  repr^sentant 
les  personnages  et  les  phases  successives  du  theme;  si  les  acteurs  qui 
repr^sentent  les  h^ros  sent  revetus  d'une  quality  sacr6e  ou  si  ce  sont  des 
magiciens  ....  si  certains  personnages  se  retrouvent  dans  d'autres  r^cits 
ou  c6r6monies  ou  Ton  explique  la  formation  du  monde,  le  renouveau  de  la 
v^g^tation,  les  origines  de  la  tribu;  si  toute  cette  representation  n'a  lieu  qu' 
k  un  moment  solennel  de  la  jom-n^e,  n'a  pour  spectateurs  que  des  hommes 
adultes  et  initios  aux  mysteres,  et  qui  se  sont  soumis  d'abord  a  des  rites  de 
purification,  qui  enfin  seraient  punis  de  mort  s'il  racontaient  aux  fenunes, 
aux  enfants  et  aux  Strangers  ce  qu'ils  ont  vu — dans  ce  cas,  I'histoire  consid^r^e 
n'est  plus  un  simple  conte:  c'est  une  partie  essentielle  du  systeme  religieux, 
un  drame  sacr^,  un  mythe. 

William  A.  Nitze 

The  University  of  Chicago 

names  are  not  much  used,  and  a  person  does  not  know  much  of  the  Budjans  of  others. 
It  is  the  personal  name  which  is  used,  not  the  Budjan.  The  personal  name  is  a  tribal  one 
given  to  an  individual  in  childhood,  and  the  use  of  the  totem  name  is  avoided,  lest  an 
enemy  might  get  hold  of  it  and  do  him  an  injury  by  evil  magic."  In  some  tribes  it  is 
the  totem  name  wliich  Is  used  and  the  other  which  is  kept  secret.  Mr.  Potter  (op.  cil., 
211),  adduces  the  practice  of  certain  Indians  of  calling  each  other  brother,  sister,  father, 
etc.,  in  order  to  avoid  any  danger  of  allowing  others  to  know  what  their  real  name  is. 
Cuchulinn  is  named  after  Culann's  hound,  and  therefore  cannot  eat  the  flesh  of  his  name- 
sake (cf.  Stokes,  Revue  cellique,  III  [1882),  176);  and  Ciwalchmei  (the  French  Gawain) 
according  to  Rhps,  Arthurian  Legend,  168,  resolves  itself  into  Gwalch-mei,  "the  Hawk 
of  the  month  of  May."  Gawain  is  always  ready  to  tell  his  name  (see  Hist.  Liu.,  XXX, 
37  ff.);  in  the  Conte  del  Graal  (vss.  5583  ff.)  he  says: 

"Sire  Gauvains  sui  apelez 
Onciues  mes  nons  ne  fu  celcz 
An  leu  ou  il  me  fust  requis, 
N'onquos  anoorcs  no  Ic  dis 
S'aincois  demandoz  ne  me  fu." 

On  naming  after  an  ancestor  or  divining  names,  see  Hartland,  op.  cil.,  I,  211  ff 

>  La  formation  des  ligendea  (Paris.  1910),  pp.  306-307. 

322 


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